Orthopedic Surgeons at Kaiser

2 parent questions ▼
Archived Q&A and reviews ▼

Parent Q&A

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  • Dr. Stephan Zmugg Kaiser Hip Surgeon

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    Aug 14, 2024

    Hello Community. Does anyone have any experience with Dr. Stephan Zmugg, a hip surgeon at Kaiser? My son is 24 and has hip dysplasia. 

    Aug 14, 2024

    Dr. Zmugg is amazing. My daughter has hip dysplasia and had PAO surgery on her right hip when she was 13 with Dr. Lincoln at Oakland Kaiser, but Dr. Zmugg has since taken over the hip surgeries. She has had followups with him and really likes him. My nephew recently had surgery on both hips and my brother said their experience with Dr. Zmugg was really great.  

    Aug 21, 2024

    If with Kaiser, I hear he's good. 

    For hip replacement however, Dr. Nicholas Mast is the doctor to see!

    Aug 21, 2024

  • Orthopedic Doctor Joshua Hatch at Kaiser

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    Sep 16, 2023

    Hello. 
    I'd appreciate any reviews of Doctor Joshua Hatch at Kaiser. My son had shoulder surgery for his labrum three years ago, and we will probably need to have a second surgery. 
    Thanks in advance. 

    Sep 16, 2023

    Dr hatch is great! He did my shoulder twice (both) and my exes! Go for it

    Sep 20, 2023

    I had shoulder replacement surgery with Dr Hatch. It was successful but his stitching left a very prominent scar. 
    it is so ugly and prevents me from wearing sleeveless shirts. I have had other orthopedic surgery with Kaiser doctors where they’re artistry with respect to stitching was far superior.Also he is a bit full of himself and very brisk in his email responses.

    Sep 20, 2023

    so my 58 year old (at the time hubs) tore his ACL snowboarding three years ago. dr. hatch was his assigned surgeon, i believe the surgery was performed in richmond kaiser. we did some homework on him and also listened to what the department nurses had to say about him. he’s a surgical master. we found him a little cocky on the pre-surgical visit (not out of the ordinary for a surgeon in our fairly extensive family experience), but he came down a few notches when we literally laughed at his ‘non-answers’ to a few of our questions. he came around and literally said, ‘oh yeah, i guess my ‘one of many surgeries’ is a really big deal for you”… ‘yeah no sh!t doc. this is a mobility issue. and a SURGERY’… LOL. let’s just say his confidence walked into the room before he did. but like i said he warmed up. hubs could not be happier. in addition to his kaiser practice, dr. hatch is an orthopedic specialist for uc berkeley sports teams. that’s a big deal.

    lastly, my husband’s physical therapists told him repeatedly that he was fortunate to have had one of the very best guys in the bay area do his ACL repair. orthopedic surgery like many things us as much art as it is science. we joke that if i have a knee blow out, i’ll wait if i need to, to get dr. hatch. if it were my son, i would run not walk to having him do the surgery. wishing your son a successful repair & recovery. 

    Sep 20, 2023

Archived Q&A and Reviews

Oct 2008

I am a Kaiser member and will probably need ACL surgery. I need recommendations of surgeons at Oakland Kaiser who did a great job on your ACL surgery and which type you had -- were you your own donor for bone and tissue or did you go the orthoscopic route? Thanks everyone!! k

HI- I had ACL replacement 2 years ago at Oaklnad Kaiser with Dr. Cummins- he is great very knowledgeable and specializes in Sports Medicine he works with Cal Athletes and so is very up on best practice. Highly recommend him. Roz

August 2008

I'm scheduled for knee surgery with Dr. Joshua Hatch. He works in Orthopedics at Kaiser Oakland. I'm wondering if anyone in the area has experience with him as a surgeon. He seems like a gentle, capable, and thorough doctor but I am hoping for feedback from others. Specifically, did he do what he said he was going to do, or did he get carried away once he was in there? Was the estimated recovery time accurate? Did you follow up with him after the surgery? Assuming you followed the prescribed physical therapy, did you regain the mobility he predicted? Any feedback is appreciated. I'm scared.
Nervous in Oakland

We had a great experience with Dr. Hatch 5 years ago. He did an arthroscopic procedure on my 17 year old son's shoulder. Dr. Hatch did a fellowship after orthopedic residency and then he was the shoulder specialist for the NY Mets, I believe. Dr. Hatch and Dr. Eppley are the 2 orthopedic doctors for the the UC athletes-- Dr. Hatch treats the Kaiser UC athletes and is highly regarded. Judy

March 2007

Been to Kaiser and saw an Orthopod who couldn't help me and/or give me information about my treatment options. He offered me Cortisone and no other options. He couldn't explain why I was having the pain I am having. I need a kaiser Orthopod who can talk and knows hips. I want to understand what is going on with my body and what OPTIONS I have other than cortisone. help my sad hips.

I have started seeing a fantastic orthopedist at Kaiser San Rafael (the Terra Linda facility) who is one of the best doctors in any field I have ever seen- young but not too young, smart as a whip, very well-informed about both the problems I went in for, personable and communicative and interative (I ask a lot of questions!), and he was obviously interested me as an individual patient. I don't know that he has any one speciality in particular body parts, but I'd trust him for any orthopedic problem.

He is Dr. Pinner, and the appointment phone # for the Department there is 415-444-2988. It is by referral only, but you shouldn't have any problem in having the Orthopedics Dept at whatever facility you're using now transfer your original referral over. I transfered my endocrinology referral from SF to San Rafael last year after I became disenchanted with my doc at SF. A primary doc can also send a specialty referral to any facility you request.

I go to Kaisers all over the Bay Area if necessary to find docs who have the qualities I listed above, and have happened to find 3 (primary, ENT, and this guy) at Terra Linda who are superior. It's about 30 min from my N Berk home (as long as I don't schedule an appt that coincides with rush hour traffic out of the city), and I find it to be a much more pleasant drive and a way more pleasant and relaxed facility than going to Oakland. Cece