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Hoag Hospital Foundation hosted the Sixth Annual Physician Campaign Leadership Group (PCLG) Celebration Dinner at the Newport Beach Country Club on June 3, 2019. This year’s dinner served to honor and thank physicians who partner with Hoag Hospital Foundation to educate and inspire donors and potential donors.

“Nowhere else that I go to speak or visit do I have a sense of this inextricable relationship between physicians and the community and philanthropy,” said Michael Brant-Zawadzki, M.D., FACR, Ron & Sandi Simon Executive Medical Director Endowed Chair, Pickup Family Neurosciences Institute, Hoag senior physician executive.

The program was led by PCLG Co-Chairs Dr. Brant-Zawadzki, Allyson Brooks, M.D., Ginny Ueberroth Executive Medical Director Endowed Chair, Hoag’s Women’s Health Institute and chief quality officer, and Kris V. Iyer, M.D., FACP, FACE, senior vice president, Hoag.

“Working Magic to Keep Me Alive”

A very special segment of the program featured a conversation, moderated by Dr. Brooks, between grateful patient Rick Sherman and Daryl Pearlstein, M.D., director of the Lung Cancer Program at Hoag Family Cancer Institute.

Rick, who serves on the Hoag Family Cancer Institute Campaign Advisory Committee, shared his journey with Hoag which began in 2016 when he was diagnosed with metastatic melanoma. In the past three years, Rick has undergone several life-saving procedures that were fraught with complications.

“I started giving to Hoag because of the incredible physicians who saved my life more than once,” he said. “They gave me more time to spend with my children, which is very important to me.” 

Dr. Pearlstein marveled at Rick’s inner strength and generosity through his ordeal. “I was right there in the trenches with Rick,” he said. “The thing that impressed me about him was that when things are going well and when they’re are not, he is always a gentleman. He always has a smile, a wink, a handshake and a story. That is what character is all about.”

2019 Hoag Promise Physician Partnership Award Honorees

This year, Dr. Iyer led the award presentation in which the Hoag Promise Lifetime Achievement Award was given to Jeb Brown, M.D., co-medical director of Minimally Invasive Surgery and Complex Gynecology and director of the Lora Family Robotics Surgical Center. He personifies the Hoag spirit and mission of taking excellent care of patients, working well with colleagues, and conducting himself with integrity and dedication.

“Jeb is a doctor’s doctor,” Dr. Iyer said. “He is always kind; he is always gentle to everyone around him. He is beloved by his colleagues and his patients alike.”

The Hoag Promise Physician Partnership Awards were awarded to January Lopez, M.D., director of Breast Imaging at the Hoag Breast Centers, and Rob Louis, M.D., program director of the Skull Base and Pituitary Tumor Program at the Pickup Family Neurosciences Institute.

A Lasting Contribution

Flynn A. Andrizzi, Ph.D., president of Hoag Hospital Foundation, thanked Hoag physicians for their care and compassion which has inspired more than $10 million in gifts to the Hoag Promise campaign from grateful patients. He also recognized that Hoag physicians themselves have given $3.7 million to the Campaign.

“It’s one thing for our physicians to host visits with donors and make referrals from grateful patients,” he said, “but your support demonstrates your loyalty, gratitude and commitment to Hoag and our community. Today we are proud to announce we have raised $605 million, 96% to the goal of $627 million of the Campaign goal.”

To view photos from the 6th Annual Physician Campaign Leadership Group Celebration Dinner, please click here.