Pulse – February 2023

DIRECTOR’S DESK CHRISTINA R. GHALY, MD

Many of us went into the field of healthcare to be able to ease suffering and improve wellness. One of the great things about working in such a dynamic field is that no two days are alike. In our respective roles, new situations arise every day. On January 21, on the cusp of the Lunar New Year celebrations, we endured a mass shooting in Monterey Park and four of the shooting victims were brought to our Level 1 Trauma Center at LA General Medical Center, where our talented and heroic team of physicians, nurses and medical staff worked tirelessly to care for their injuries. I know I speak on behalf of all of us at LA Health Services when I express our tremendous gratitude to our colleagues at LA General Medical Center, who demonstrated what it means to be a world-class medical center. Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for serving our community and representing Los Angeles County with such grace and honor.

On February 6, a massive magnitude 7.8 earthquake hit Turkey and Syria and four of our physicians traveled to Turkey as part of an L.A.- based search-and-rescue team. In this month’s edition of the newsletter, you can read about our highly trained trauma care physicians who are using their skills and knowledge on the front lines of a major humanitarian crisis. To date, over 41,000 people have died in the aftermath of the earthquake and aftershocks in Turkey and Syria. Our medical staff willingly took their trauma care skills to another part of the world and contributed to life saving efforts. They are truly easing suffering and improving wellness in a time of extraordinary need.

This edition also includes an article about the highly disciplined Correctional Health Services team that participated in the rigorous 120-mile run from Baker, California to Las Vegas, Nevada. After a pandemic-induced hiatus, the team will again be participating in April of this year. Good luck to them as they embark on this incredibly challenging run and go out to support them, if you can.

LA Health Services participated in a Healing Space community event at the Earvin Magic Johnson Park & Recreation Center in the City of Willowbrook. The community event was well attended, and our healthcare providers took the opportunity to share information with community members on how to care for themselves and seek medical attention, as needed.

We also celebrated Black History Month throughout the department. There were events, speakers, food trucks, informational displays and celebrations to commemorate the many contributions of African Americans. Thank you to everyone that worked so hard to plan and implement these events and thank you to everyone who participated in the events. Hopefully there were opportunities to learn something new.

Finally, I encourage everyone to take a moment to review our 2022 Annual Report that was released earlier this month. The highlights and accomplishments in our 2022 Annual Report weave a story of an integrated health system committed to delivering extraordinary care to those most in need. These highlights and accomplishments provide a glimpse of the innovation, compassion, and inclusivity at the heart of all we do. The full report can be found here.

Dr. Christina Ghaly