Light Touch
Doctor’s a beacon in more ways than one
By James Raia
July 2026
Dr. David Lehman’s medical practice is on the third floor of a J Street office building in East Sacramento. Melodies from a piano lesson business across the hallway greet visitors. Other doors in the drab corridor have placards without names.
But enter Lehman’s office and the small waiting area becomes a portal to the physician’s work. He’s a beacon, patients and staff say.
Lehman is the keeper of an estimated 400 lighthouses. Every wall, shelf, cabinet and exam room is adorned in a watchtower motif. Every bric-a-brac, figurine, painting, poster, tapestry and tchotchke has its own beacon.
“I don’t wear a white coat. We try to be relaxed,” says Lehman, 82. “This is my living room. We try to use it as a way to get people to relax. Everyone loves lighthouses.
“It’s the same thing. We’ll be a beacon of light for you to get through your illness. I love that analogy. I think that helps.”
The lighthouses remind Lehman of patients and friends, some long gone. Many contributed items to the office museum, a shrine to the doctor’s internal medicine practice and rheumatology specialty.
No surprise, he’s visited about 15 actual lighthouses, from Pacific Grove to Lake Superior, Martha’s Vineyard to the Azores.
Marie Balshor, the late Sacramento florist, brought Lehman his first lighthouse 30 years ago. The freestanding piece rests near the office reception window. It’s inscribed, “Dr. David’s Beacon Of Life.”
Other patients followed the trend. One favorite lighthouse was left anonymously after hours under the closed office door. Some lighthouse offerings go unidentified.
Lehman attended medical school at UC San Francisco. After his residency at UC San Diego, he began his career in Sacramento. The doctor celebrates a half-century in practice this year. It coincides with his 57th wedding anniversary and birthday. Lehman and his wife Rita live in Arden Oaks and have three adult daughters.
Lehman, who maintains a 50-hour workweek, wears a suit and tie. But he sometimes opts for an ancient brown Harris Tweed sports jacket. He has a full flock of white hair and eyes that evoke wisdom.
“I remember when I was a medical student in the ’60s,” Lehman recalls. “We had these beautiful, wide ties our wives would make. One of my professors told the class, ‘If you are going to tell someone they have cancer, you damn well better be wearing a tie.’”
Lehman still makes house calls. Some patient families have been with him for three generations. He’s been a patient himself, now 30-plus years removed from a near-fatal strep infection after hernia surgery. He views modern health care as miraculous.
“It drives me crazy because we have all these medicines now,” Lehman says. “People say, ‘I don’t want to take another pill.’ To me, this is magic. We didn’t use to have this.
“Mostly, I feel blessed that I have a gift for looking out for patients and providing comfort and care. To me, that’s a blessing. I don’t want to forsake that.”
James Raia can be reached at james@jamesraia.com. Follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram: @insidesacramento.
