This Doctor Makes House Calls

In an era when technology has made it possible to find obscure medical facts on the Internet by simply opening up a cell phone, it is comforting to know that a seemingly extinct tradition is still alive in Pacific Palisades. Straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting, Palisadian Dr. Herbert Rubin will make house calls. He is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year by appointment. Rubin, an internist with a specialty in gastroenterology, was in private practice for 31 years in Beverly Hills and Century City. Upon retiring in 2006, he and wife Anne Marie moved from Westwood to the Huntington Palisades to be closer to their daughter and three granddaughters. Retirement left Rubin with unaccustomed time on his hands. ‘I missed doctoring and patient interaction,’ he said, ‘so I started looking for an alternative.’ ‘I had wanted to be a doctor since I was four years old and modeled myself after my uncle, who was a small-town general practitioner,’ Rubin told the Palisadian-Post. ‘I was searching for a way to be a caring, old-fashioned Marcus Welby kind of good doctor without the office hassles.’ The small-town atmosphere of the Palisades provided the perfect environment for Rubin to start his own traveling physician business: Doctor House Call. ‘This is a way for a doctor to serve a need, especially for older folks,’ he said. ‘It’s also a way to practice and do what I love, and I think patients will love it.’ His new practice, which opened this week, will target patients from ’18 to 120- year-olds, but I don’t deliver babies or do surgery.’ He stressed that if people have an emergency, they should call 911. When he visits homes, Rubin promises to spend time with patients because ‘there are no time restraints. I can take as long as necessary to take good care of them. I can even bring them hot chicken soup or something from the drug store or market.’ Rubin’s practice is limited to the Westside, from Santa Monica and Brentwood to Malibu. He doesn’t take any insurance, but will provide forms to request reimbursement from insurance companies. His fee schedule and policy statements are on the Web site www.doctorhousecall.com. The Rubins have four children: Shari, who is married to Ed Glazer and lives in the Palisades with their three children; Hillary (husband Scott Weintraub); Alexie, who graduated from Columbia/Barnard last May; and Anthony a senior at New York University. ontact: Doctorhousecall@gmail.com or (310) 435-5209.