New Board Member Spotlight: Meet Jed Weissberg, M.D.!

The Healthcare Foundation is pleased and grateful to welcome five new members to its Board of Directors in 2025, and we are featuring a conversation with each of them over the first months of the new year. In January we spoke with Pamela Torresdey. This month we caught up with Dr. Jed Weissberg, who joins the Healthcare Foundation Board after completing his service on the board of the Northern California Providence Hospital system, which includes Healdsburg Hospital.

A native of New Jersey, Jed settled in Healdsburg in 2018 with his wife and fellow physician Shelley, both having recently retired from careers at Kaiser Permanente in the East Bay. Since then, in addition to the aforementioned board service, Jed has been active with the North Sonoma County Healthcare District and on the strategic planning committee of the Healdsburg Hospital. We asked him recently about what motivates him in his community service and what he sees as the best opportunities for securing the ongoing health and wellbeing of the region he calls home.

Can you describe your connection to northern Sonoma County and what motivates you to serve on the Healthcare Foundation board?

My wife and I moved up here in 2018 after long careers with Kaiser Permanente. I was a GI [gastroenterologist] clinician, then a physician and health plan / hospital executive with a responsibility for Quality and Safety. I was curious what a critical access hospital like Healdsburg Hospital was like and started attending their board and strategy meetings. I got tapped to lead the Quality committee for the Providence regional hospital board and served there for four years. I also attended meetings of the North Sonoma County Healthcare District board and there I gained more insight into the needs of our community and the local hospital. Recently, I termed off the Providence regional board and am happy to have been appointed to the Community hospital board for Healdsburg and Petaluma Valley. 

“I’m proud to serve on the board to look more broadly at the needs of folks beyond acute care. Social factors influencing health are critical and much remains to be done.”

Dr. Jed Weissberg

Now, I’m proud to serve on the Healthcare Foundation board to look more broadly at the needs of folks beyond that of acute care. Social factors influencing health are critical and much remains to be done. The Healthcare Foundation has a sterling reputation for looking over the horizon to develop a portfolio of strategies to respond to immediate needs as well as developing capabilities for the future. I first met [former Executive Director] Kim [Bender] and by the time Amy [Ramirez] was appointed [executive director in 2024], I was hooked!

What do you see as a pressing challenge in terms of advancing health equity in northern Sonoma County, and how does the Healthcare Foundation contribute to a solution?

The current political chaos and uncertainty with respect to federal health policy is an immediate challenge and the broad experience of our board and staff are needed to respond in a constructive way that will positively impact our local communities. As noted above, the “drivers” of health often are found outside of clinics and hospitals, and I see the Healthcare Foundation proactively working with underserved communities (with Cloverdale seniors through the ECO Group initiative, for example) to improve population health. That often requires creative fundraising and use of funds.

Finally, what is it you most appreciate and find hope in when it comes to being a resident of northern Sonoma County?

The people! There are simply lots of socially conscious folks who volunteer and seek to improve our community and the world. This makes us really appreciate where we live. And, of course, the wine doesn’t hurt either.