Joseph Karam, MD, Medical Director, Trauma and Surgical Critical Care

Dr. Karam recently joined Kaiser Permanente from Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia, where he has served as Medical Director, Trauma and Surgical Critical Care Services, for the hospital's Level I Trauma Center since 2004. He received his bachelor’s degree from The University of Scranton and medical degree from Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. He completed general surgery residencies in Pennsylvania at Hahnemann University Hospital, Polyclinic Medical Center, and Geisinger Medical Center. He completed fellowships in trauma and critical care at Allegheny University Hospital in Philadelphia, and in gastrointestinal surgery research at Hahnemann University.

Christy Frecceri, RN, Trauma Program Manager

Christy Frecceri has been involved in trauma center development since 1984. She joined Kaiser Permanente in 2006 to help the facility prepare to operate a Level II Trauma Center. She has extensive experience as a trauma center program manager and in developing new trauma programs, including preparing education and training for medical and nursing personnel in caring for trauma patients. She was the trauma program manager for Sutter Roseville and has served as trauma consultant in Marin, Redding, and Delano, California, and Paducah, Kentucky.

Mark Hawk, MD, Chief of Neurosurgery

Dr. Hawk joined Kaiser Permanente in 2002. As Chief of Neurosurgery, he oversees the largest team of neurosurgeons in the Greater Sacramento community. Dr. Hawk's specialties include complex spine surgery and vascular neurosurgery. He earned his medical degree from UC Davis School of Medicine and completed a residency in internal medicine and neurosurgery, as well as a fellowship in complex spine surgery, at UC Davis Medical Center. Along with other neurosurgeons in his department, Dr. Hawk is certified as an Advanced Trauma Life Support provider capable of caring for patients with complex trauma-related injuries. In addition to overseeing a team of 10 neurosurgeons, Dr. Hawk led the establishment of a neurointervention team with state-of-the-art facilities.

Michael Carl, MD, Assistant Physician-in Chief,
Emergency and Trauma Services

Dr. Carl joined Kaiser Permanente in 1995 after completing his residency in emergency services at UC Davis Medical Center. He specializes in trauma care, pre-hospital emergency, and disaster medicine. He has chaired the Bioethics Committee at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, and conducted research in pulmonary physiology, as well as ultrasound use by emergency physicians.

Richard Isaacs, MD, Physician-in-Chief,
Head and Neck/Maxillofacial surgeon

Dr. Isaacs joined Kaiser Permanente in 1995 and has served as the Medical Center's physician-in-chief since 2005. He holds an advanced certification in head and neck oncologic surgery and specializes in orbital, nasal, and maxillofacial surgery, as well as thyroid and parathyroid surgery. He also serves as regional resource for the management of advanced tumors of the head and neck, and is trained in facial plastic and reconstructive surgery. He was chosen as one of the top otolaryngologists in Northern California by Sacramento Magazine and by the American Consumer Reports survey of American physicians. Dr. Isaacs received his medical degree from Wayne State University in Detroit, and completed residencies at both the Manhattan Eye Ear and Throat Hospital and Cornell University School of Medicine in New York. He completed fellowships at UC Davis Medical Center, and continues to serve as an assistant clinical professor of otolaryngology at the UC Davis School of Medicine.

John Belko, MD, Pediatric Infectious Disease Specialist

Dr. Belko joined Kaiser Permanente in 2004 after completing a fellowship at the renowned Children's Hospital Boston. He has considerable experience in diagnosing and treating children with a variety of potentially life-threatening infectious diseases, including meningitis and HIV. Board certified in both pediatrics and pediatric infectious diseases, Dr. Belko received his medical degree from State University of New York Health Science Center, and completed his residency at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York. Based on the South Sacramento campus, Dr. Belko participates in the active surveillance of the epidemiology of infections in the Greater Sacramento area and in hospital infection control programs.

Donald Liberty, DDS, Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeon

Dr. Liberty joined Kaiser Permanente in 2005 and specializes in treating conditions, defects, and injuries of the mouth, teeth, jaws, neck and face-including injuries caused by traumatic accidents. He received his Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from Indiana University School of Dentistry in 2000, and completed a four-year residency in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the Indiana University Medical Center and Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis.

Victor Rodriguez, MD, Vascular Surgeon

Dr. Rodriguez is a vascular surgeon who specializes in repairing complex aortic aneurysms. He made local history in 2005 when he became the area's first surgeon to perform a new, minimally invasive stent procedure on an elderly woman suffering from a potentially deadly thoracic aortic aneurysm. Since then, he has volunteered to assist at other area hospitals that don't offer this, and other highly specialized procedures, in emergency situations in which patients likely would not have survived without the intervention. Dr. Rodriguez received his medical degree, completed a residency, and trained in general surgery at UC Davis Medical Center. He later trained in vascular surgery while completing a fellowship at the University of Wisconsin Hospital.

Steven Offerman, MD, Medical Toxicologist,
Emergency Department

Dr. Offerman joined Kaiser Permanente's Emergency Department in 2005. Board certified in both emergency medicine and medical toxicology, he specializes in the diagnosis, management and prevention of poisoning/toxicity and other adverse health effects due to medications, chemicals, occupational and environmental toxins, and biological hazards. He received his medical degree from USC Medical School in Los Angeles, and completed his residency in emergency medicine at UC Davis Medical Center and a fellowship in medical toxicology at UC San Diego. Prior to joining Kaiser Permanente, he served three years as an assistant professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at UC Davis Medical Center.