Why I Started Ridge & River Medicine
Ridge & River exists because good medicine starts with time, trust, and genuine connection.
The reason I started Ridge & River Medicine is simple: I believe my patients deserve the same level of care I’d want for my own family.
For years, I tried to practice good medicine inside a system that kept pulling me in the opposite direction. I would walk into the clinic each morning knowing I had a packed schedule, often double-booked, because that was the only way to keep up with employer demands and overhead. Most days felt like a competition between my schedule and my patients needs. Too often, I had to choose between rushing through appointments and cutting visits short, or giving people the time they needed and taking hours of unfinished charting home.
One of my guiding principles as a doctor is to treat every patient the way I’d want my wife, my parents, or my child to be treated. But in the traditional system, that became harder and harder to do. Eventually, I realized I had to make a choice - compromise my principles or find a different way to practice medicine.
A Better Way
Direct Primary Care gave me a way forward. Because it’s a membership, not insurance, I can run a clinic with less overhead and a smaller panel. There’s no need to cram the schedule. There’s room in the day to give people the time they deserve.
For a flat monthly fee, patients get long, unhurried visits, same‑ or next‑day appointments, direct access to their doctor, help coordinating specialists, and more. Now, if someone is dealing with something complicated, there’s time to dig into it. If someone’s going through a hard time, we have time talk about it. If they need more support, they get it.
DPC lets me practice the kind of medicine I believe in: thoughtful, high-quality, relationship-centered care without barriers or caveats.
Looking Forward
The road ahead will have challenges, but I believe people are ready for a different kind of primary care. One where relationships matter. One where you’re not just a patient in a system, but a person who’s known, heard, and valued.
That’s why I started Ridge & River Medicine: to practice the kind of medicine I believe in, the kind that lets me make a real difference in the lives of others.
