# David Craig

> David Craig, MD is the CEO of Spruce Health, a San Francisco-based HIPAA-compliant healthcare communication platform serving 25,000+ healthcare providers. A Stanford-trained emergency medicine physician who began coding in his teens, Craig brings rare dual fluency in medicine and software engineering. He joined Spruce in 2014 as Chief Medical Officer before taking the CEO role in late 2021, and still works weekly ER shifts to keep his clinical perspective sharp while leading a team building the communication infrastructure for modern healthcare.

- **Role:** Chief Executive Officer at Spruce Health
- **Organizations:** Spruce Health, San Francisco Emergency Medical Associates, California Pacific Medical Center, The Permanente Medical Group
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** B.S. and M.S. in Biology/Biological Sciences, Stanford University, M.D., Stanford University School of Medicine, Emergency Medicine Residency, Stanford/Kaiser Emergency Medicine Residency
- **Known for:** Built Spruce Health into a platform serving 25,000+ healthcare providers and 5M+ patient accounts, Led Spruce to HITRUST certification and SOC2 Type II audit completion, Raised $17M in venture funding from top-tier investors including Kleiner Perkins, Google Ventures, and Cowboy Ventures

## Career timeline

- **Teenage years** — Began programming and web development as a hobby
- **2011** — Earned M.D. from Stanford University School of Medicine
- **2011-2014** — Completed Emergency Medicine Residency at Stanford/Kaiser
- **2014** — Joined Spruce Health as Chief Medical Officer & Director of Compliance
- **2014** — Spruce Health closes first funding round (September 2014)
- **2015** — Spruce Health closes $15M Series A led by Cowboy Ventures, Baseline Ventures, Google Ventures, Kleiner Perkins
- **2019-2023** — Concurrent clinical work at The Permanente Medical Group
- **2021** — Promoted to Chief Executive Officer of Spruce Health (December 2021)
- **2024** — Featured on 'This Just In Radio' podcast discussing cloud-based healthcare communications
- **2024** — Spruce Health receives G2 Winter 2024 recognition for Best Usability and Best Results
- **2025-2026** — Partnership with Mass General Brigham and Avo on clinical AI research; platform reaches 25,000+ providers and 5M+ patient accounts

## Achievements

- Built Spruce Health into a platform serving 25,000+ healthcare providers and 5M+ patient accounts
- Led Spruce to HITRUST certification and SOC2 Type II audit completion
- Raised $17M in venture funding from top-tier investors including Kleiner Perkins, Google Ventures, and Cowboy Ventures
- Achieved G2 Winter 2024 recognition for Best Usability, Most Implementable, Best Relationship, and Best Results
- Recognized as leader in Telemedicine, HIPAA-Compliant Messaging, and Patient Engagement categories
- Maintained active emergency medicine clinical practice while leading a technology company
- Launched Spruce Public API and integrations with Athenahealth
- Partnered with Mass General Brigham and Avo on clinical AI research

## Latest updates

- **2024-02** — Featured on 'This Just In Radio' podcast on Healthcare NOW Radio Podcast Network discussing cloud-based healthcare communications
- **2024-01** — Spruce Health recognized in G2 Winter 2024 awards for Best Usability, Most Implementable, Best Relationship, and Best Results
- **2025-2026** — Partnership with Mass General Brigham and Avo on clinical AI research; platform grows to 25,000+ providers and 5M+ patient accounts

## Links

- Website: https://sprucehealth.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidcraigmd
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/sprucehealth
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/SpruceHealth

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/david-craig
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-13