Rise of the red carpet MD

San Francisco

WHEN John Battelle's teenage son broke his leg at a suburban soccer game, naturally the first call his parents made was to 911. The second was to Dr Jordan Shlain, the concierge doctor here who treats Mr Battelle and his family.

"They're taking him to a local hospital," Mr Battelle's wife, Michelle, told Dr Shlain as the boy rode in an ambulance to a nearby emergency room in Marin County. "No, they're not," Dr Shlain instructed them. "You don't want that leg set by an ER doc at a local medical centre. You want it set by the head of orthopedics at a hospital in the city."

Within minutes, the ambulance was on the Golden Gate Bridge, bound for California Pacific Medical Center, one of San Francisco's top hospitals. Dr Shlain was there to mee…