A Shared Calling to Service

For Dr. David Anderson and his wife, echocardiographer Chris Anderson, volunteering at the Order of Malta Clinic of Northern California is more than an opportunity to provide specialty care, it’s a shared calling rooted in service, faith, and compassion for others.

“Caring for people in their time of need was one of the most important reasons we pursued careers in medicine,” they shared.

Dr. Anderson is a cardiologist, while Chris specializes in echocardiography, the use of ultrasound technology to image the heart. Together, the husband-and-wife team has spent more than 20 years volunteering their time to provide cardiac services to underserved patients at La Clinica de La Raza.

After hearing from fellow Clinic volunteers Dr. Sam Dong and Dr. Hiroshi Terashima about an unused ultrasound machine at the Clinic, the Andersons were eager to get involved.

Today, they lead the Clinic’s monthly Echocardiogram Clinic, helping uninsured patients access critical cardiac imaging services that are often difficult or impossible to obtain without insurance. In just the first two months of 2026, the Clinic completed 13 echocardiograms, already tracking well ahead of the previous year’s pace.

An echocardiogram is a painless ultrasound test that allows providers to evaluate how well the heart is functioning. The test can help identify or monitor a range of serious conditions, including heart failure, valve disease, structural abnormalities, and other cardiovascular concerns.

“Specialized care and procedures are hard to come by for the uninsured and underinsured,” they explained. “To know how well the heart is working with a thirty-minute painless test right in our clinic is often very helpful.”

For the Andersons, volunteering together also brings a uniquely personal dimension to the experience.

“It is a special experience for us to work together for a day, to make a diagnosis, to share in a patient’s story, and to pray for their needs.”

Their commitment reflects the heart of the Clinic itself: highly skilled volunteers coming together to provide quality care with dignity and compassion.

 As the Clinic continues expanding specialty services and outreach throughout the Bay Area, volunteers like Dr. Anderson and Chris help make that growth possible, one patient, one diagnosis, and one act of service at a time.

“We enjoy our work at the Clinic and would like to see its outreach into the East Bay community grow.”