Hollywood’s Top Doctors: Best Gynecologists in Los Angeles

A version of this story first appeared in the Sept. 19 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine.

Hollywood is a town obsessed with its health — and its vanity. So it’s no surprise that everyone has an opinion on who the best doctors in Los Angeles are, from who can keep aging at bay for those all-important close-ups to whom to count on to cure life-threatening illnesses.

To identify the 484 elite physicians who qualified for The Hollywood Reporter’s inaugural list of the top docs in L.A., THR’s editors went two routes. First, THR partnered with the physician-led research team of Castle Connolly, the U.S.’ preeminent medical-database authority, to identify the highest-rated practitioners in their specialties, all of whom are nominated by their peers in an extensive survey process of thousands of U.S. doctors each year. Castle Connolly screens these doctors’ medical educations, training, hospital appointments, disciplinary histories and much more. Doctors do not and cannot pay to be included.

THR then went further and surveyed 800 professionals in the film, television, movie and media fields to find out who among these doctors are the most beloved, trusted and go-to physicians in L.A. These 43 industry favorites include Morgan Freeman‘s holistic internist Dr. Soram Khalsa, Dr. Mehmet Oz‘s gastroenterologist Dr. Jonathan LaPook, Naomi Watts‘ NYC dermatologist David Colbert, KISS’ Paul Stanley‘s ear, nose and throat doctor Joe Sugerman, Steve Tisch‘s favorite neurosurgeon and Dr. Neal ElAttrache, the orthopedist who healed Charlize Theron‘s herniated disc and Dr. Robert Kay, the surgeon who fixed Starz CEO Chris Albrecht‘s daughter Tess after a car accident.

More From THR‘s Top Doctors Issue:

Hollywood’s Top Doctors Revealed: Exclusive Survey

See The Doctors With Their Famous Patients

Hollywood’s Vaccine Wars: L.A.’s “Entitled” Westsiders Behind City’s Epidemic

Hollywood’s Biggest Anti-Vaccine Proponents

Hollywood Vaccination Fail: Why L.A. Schoolkids Are Getting Sick

How to Live Forever: The (Mad?) Science Hollywood Is Using to “Cure” Death

“I’m Going to Live Forever”: Hollywood Elders’ Best Quotes About Aging

Is Working in Hollywood Bad for Your Health?

L.A.’s Emergency Rooms, Rated

Meet the Real-Life McDreamy: The Doctor Behind ‘Grey’s Anatomy’

OB/GYN

Margaret E. Bates
Spectrum Women’s Healthcare
637 S. Lucas Ave.
Los Angeles 90017
213-977-4190
Also: Good Samaritan

Oleg Bess
Women Center LA
5901 W. Olympic Blvd.
Los Angeles 90036
323-934-8877
Also: Cedars-Sinai

Pamela J. Boyer
UCLA Health System
200 UCLA Medical Plaza
Los Angeles 90095
310-208-4492

Rebecca Sidney Brown
Rodeo Drive Women’s Health Center
421 N. Rodeo Drive
Beverly Hills 90210
310-432-6640
Also: Cedars-Sinai

Connie S. Chein
9242 W. Olympic Blvd.
Beverly Hills 90212
310-274-8310
Also: Cedars-Sinai

Ruth R. Cousineau
Women’s Care of Beverly Hills Medical Group
8920 Wilshire Blvd.
Beverly Hills 90211
310-657-1600
Also: Cedars-Sinai

INDUSTRY FAVORITE

Paul H. Crane
415 N. Crescent Drive
Beverly Hills 90210
310-659-5810
Also: Cedars-Sinai

? Since 1969, Dr. Crane has delivered more than 5,000 babies in Beverly Hills, including all of Kris Jenner‘s children and the next generation of Kardashian babies — as any reality-show viewer could tell you. But what has earned him loyalty among the rich and famous is his empathy for his patients, especially the nervous ones. If an expectant mother calls on a Sunday morning concerned that her baby has stopped moving, Crane will open his Crescent Drive office to do an ultrasound: “You can’t deny people’s neuroses,” he says. “That’s their prerogative.” He also is unaffected by the celebrity status of his clients. “You have to accept the notion that you’re really just a high-priced servant,” jokes Crane. “In fact, you’re not even that high-priced. You’re in the same ballpark as the person’s hairdresser.” However, Norman Lear has a far loftier view of Crane, who delivered Lear’s son Ben, now 26, and his twin daughters, 19. Says Lear, “He’s the man who delivered these glorious human beings.”

Steven Freedman
23101 Sherman Place
West Hills 91307
818-887-5000
Also: West Hills Hospital

Richard Frieder
Saint John’s
2121 Santa Monica Blvd.
Santa Monica 90404
310-829-8000

Michael Frields
Glendale Adventist Medical Center
1505 Wilson Terrace
Glendale 91206
818-247-5845

Nancy S. Goldman
Rabin, Kornreich, Goldman, Banooni
150 N. Robertson Blvd.
Beverly Hills 90211
310-652-9347
Also: Cedars-Sinai

Glenn Grossman
11600 Indian Hills Road
Mission Hills 91345
818-838-4535
Also: Northridge Hospital

William Growdon
UCLA Health System
1245 16th St.
Santa Monica 90404
310-899-7500

Michele M. Hakakha
9735 Wilshire Blvd.
Beverly Hills 90212
310-274-2005
Also: Cedars-Sinai

Ronald B. Johnson
White Memorial Medical Center
1701 Cesar E. Chavez Ave.
Los Angeles 90033
323-225-4300

Michael Thomas Johnson
UCLA Health System
200 UCLA Medical Plaza
Los Angeles 90095
310-794-7274

Robert F. Katz
Women’s Care of Beverly Hills Medical Group
8920 Wilshire Blvd.
Beverly Hills 90211
310-657-1600
Also: Cedars-Sinai

Seth Kivnick
Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles Medical Center
6041 Cadillac Ave.
Los Angeles 90034
323-857-2000

Jon S. Matsunaga
Santa Monica Women’s Health Center
2001 Santa Monica Blvd.
Santa Monica 90404
310-829-7878
Also: Saint John’s

Valerie P. Myers
10 Congress St.
Pasadena 91105
626-449-6223Also: Huntington Memorial Hospital

Lisa A. Nicholas
UCLA Health System
200 UCLA Medical Plaza
Los Angeles 90095
310-794-7274

William H. Parker
UCLA Health System
1450 10th St.
Santa Monica 90401
310-451-8144
Also: Saint John’s

Albert Phillips
Santa Monica Gynecology & Obstetrics
1301 20th St.
Santa Monica 90404
310-828-8585
Also: Saint John’s

Stephen C. Rabin
150 N. Robertson Blvd.
Beverly Hills 90211
310-652-9347
Also: Cedars-Sinai

Andrea J. Rapkin
UCLA Health System
220 UCLA Medical Plaza
Los Angeles 90095
310-794-7274

Uzzi Reiss
414 N. Camden Drive
Beverly Hills 90210
310-247-1300

Laurie B. Reynard
2021 Santa Monica Blvd.
Santa Monica 90404
310-453-1266
Also: UCLA Medical Center

Amy E. Rosenman
1450 10th St.
Santa Monica 90401
310-451-8144
Also: Saint John’s

Sheryl A. Ross
Santa Monica Women’s Health Center
2001 Santa Monica Blvd.
Santa Monica 90404
310-829-7878
Also: Saint John’s

Scott P. Serden
Heldfond Medical Group
8631 W. 3rd St.
Los Angeles 90048
310-278-1490
Also: Cedars-Sinai

James R. Shields
7301 Medical Center Drive
West Hills 91307
818-312-9790
Also: Los Robles Hospital

Meir Jonathon Solnik
Cedars-Sinai
444 S. San Vicente Blvd.
Los Angeles 90048
310-423-9268

INDUSTRY FAVORITE

Mark W. Surrey
Southern California Reproductive Center
450 N. Roxbury Drive
Beverly Hills 90210
310-277-2393
Also: Cedars-Sinai

? In the 20 years since Dr. Surrey co-founded his practice, he has seen some patients happily go public with their fertility struggles, while others continue to treat reproductive woes as a sensitive and private topic. “There are some celebrities who come into the waiting room and walk around shaking hands,” says Surrey. “There are others who have the elevator shut down for them.” Surrey’s delicacy was displayed on Keeping Up With the Kardashians, where he counseled Khloe Kardashian about her efforts to conceive. But the fertility pioneer is not in this for the screen time. “I looked at medicine in terms of where I could make a difference in our society,” says Surrey. “I chose this because it’s the beginning of life as we know it.”

Jonathan Nei-Kim Tam
105 N. Hill Ave.
Pasadena 91106
626-449-2800
Also: Huntington Memorial Hospital

Christopher Tarnay
UCLA Health System
100 UCLA Medical Plaza
Los Angeles 90095
310-794-7274

Sherry L. Thomas
29525 Canwood St.
Agoura Hills 91301
818-991-0988
Also: Los Robles Hospital

Peter D. Weiss
Rodeo Drive Women’s Health Center
421 N. Rodeo Drive
Beverly Hills 90210
310-432-6640
Also: Cedars-Sinai

Castle Connolly Medical Ltd. is a healthcare research and information company founded in 1991 by a former medical college board chairman and president to help guide consumers to America’s top doctors and top hospitals. Castle Connolly’s established survey and research process, under the direction of an MD, involves many tens of thousands of physicians as well as academic medical centers, specialty hospitals and regional and community hospitals all across the nation. leadership of leading hospitals.

Castle Connolly’s physician-led team of researchers follows a rigorous screening process to select top doctors on both the national and regional levels. Its online nominations process — located at www.castleconnolly.com/nominations — is open to all licensed physicians in America who are able to nominate physicians in any medical specialty and in any part of the country, as well as indicate whether the nominated physicians is, in their opinion, among the best in their region in their medical specialty or among the best in the nation in their medical specialty. Careful screening of doctors’ educational and professional experience is essential before final selection is made among those physicians most highly regarded by their peers. The result – we identify the top doctors in America and provide you, the consumer, with detailed information about their education, training and special expertise in our paperback guides, national and regional magazine “Top Doctors” features and online directories.

Doctors do not and cannot pay to be selected and profiled as Castle Connolly Top Doctors

Physicians selected for inclusion in this magazine’s “Top Doctors” feature may also appear as Regional Top Doctors online at www.castleconnolly.com, or in one of Castle Connolly’s Top Doctors™ guides, such as America’s Top Doctors® or America’s Top Doctors® for Cancer.