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Adventist Health Glendale Leader Confident Amid Virus’ Surge

 

By Alice Issai
President, Adventist Health Glendale

Alice Issai

This year has brought so many challenges — to our organization, our community and each of us individually. Now, as we embark on a holiday season during a global pandemic, my thoughts immediately turn to our front-line workers and the many community members for whom comfort and joy will be difficult to find.
As with other medical centers, Adventist Health Glendale is seeing a steady climb in the number of patients with COVID-19. State and county officials, fearful of mass spreading, have curtailed activities, instituted curfews and pleaded with the public to heed public health experts’ calls to wear your mask, watch your distance and wash your hands — still the best line of defense against contracting the coronavirus.
And yet, true to the season’s essence, there is hope.
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Hospital Leaders Confident Amid Virus’ Surge

By Keith Hobbs
CEO, USC Verdugo Hills Hospital

Keith Hobbs

We are most definitely seeing a spike in COVID-19 cases locally, regionally and nationally — the news is real. We all heard the public health warnings before Thanksgiving; the combination of colder weather, families wanting to gather for the holidays and students returning home from college would likely result in increased exposure and transmission.
At USC Verdugo Hills Hospital we are already seeing an increase in COVID-19 cases in our Emergency Room and among our admitted patient population, and these are not even people who were exposed due to Thanksgiving gatherings. The incubation period of the virus means that surge is still likely a week away.

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Flu Shots More Important This Year, Health Experts Say

Photo courtesy USC-VHH
A local resident gets a flu shot during a recent drive-thru event at USC Verdugo Hills Hospital. Experts are strongly urging people to get flu shots this year, especially because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Now, especially, is the time to make sure you get your flu shot, according to local experts.
It’s not likely that you’ll find a doctor who won’t urge a patient to get an annual flu shot in a normal year, mind you. However, the world has even more reason to keep hospital beds open at the moment because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Any way that we can prevent any kind of respiratory illness is important,” said Patricia Sung, manager of infection prevention at USC Verdugo Hills Hospital. “Even under normal circumstances, it’s pretty important to get the flu shot.”
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Flu Shots More Important This Year, Health Experts Say

Photo courtesy USC-VHH
A local resident gets a flu shot during a recent drive-thru event at USC Verdugo Hills Hospital. Experts are strongly urging people to get flu shots this year, especially because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Now, especially, is the time to make sure you get your flu shot, according to local experts.
It’s not likely that you’ll find a doctor who won’t urge a patient to get an annual flu shot in a normal year, mind you. However, the world has even more reason to keep hospital beds open at the moment because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Any way that we can prevent any kind of respiratory illness is important,” said Patricia Sung, manager of infection prevention at USC Verdugo Hills Hospital. “Even under normal circumstances, it’s pretty important to get the flu shot.”
The flu, much like COVID-19, is a respiratory illness that can become incapacitating and fatal if not treated and when exacerbated by other conditions. Although some studies have indicated that individuals infected with both illnesses have twice the mortality rate, Sung said the actual data isn’t there yet.

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Glendale Armenians “Inspired by Other People’s Sacrifices”

When local members of the Armenian diaspora woke up on Thursday and began to scour the internet and social media for on-the-ground updates — any news, really — from the front lines of the reignited war between Azerbaijan and the Armenia-backed breakaway state Artsakh, they found pictures of the Holy Savior Cathedral.
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Adventist Health Glendale Celebrates 115 Years

Adventist Health Glendale will celebrate 115 years next week as part of the hospital’s testament and dedication to the men and women who have made this organization what it is today.
Since Aug. 24, 1905, Adventist Health Glendale has been providing quality health-care services to residents of Glendale and the surrounding communities. Since its founding in 1905, generations of families have entrusted its physicians, nurses and associates with their health-care needs. With a heritage of dedication and commitment, the hospital continues to bring the highest quality of care to keep the communities healthy, now and in the future.

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Memorial Tribute for Ronald S. Wu, M.D.

Dr. Ronald Wu

Dr. Ronald Wu, a physician blessed with extraordinary skills and a calm, quiet manner, is being remembered by friends, colleagues, patients and families whose lives he touched with great care and grace during his nearly 50 years in private practice, serving the Glendale community and beyond.
Dr. Wu passed away peacefully in his home during the early morning hours of September 8, surrounded by his family. During the past 16 years, he fought a heroic battle against lung cancer but remained steadfast in his commitment to his patients until he retired in June 2017.

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Alex Theatre’s 95th to Be Celebrated by Glendale Arts

Photo courtesy Zaw Studios
The Alex Theatre will be celebrating its 95th birthday in September, with a virtual event bringing a number of speakers to illustrate the institution’s past, present and future.

Glendale Arts is standing by its mission of bringing the community together through the arts and entertainment, even at a time when restrictions mandated by this unprecedented moment in history have meant that the “together” element of the equation must be achieved virtually.
The nonprofit management company of the Alex Theatre is hosting an online celebration to honor the historic performing arts and entertainment center’s 95th birthday on Saturday, Sept. 5, from 9 a.m.-9 p.m. to raise critical funds needed to preserve the Glendale landmark. The fundraiser will also ensure that the team of professionals who operate it are “able to continue providing programming and services to thousands of beneficiaries ranging from emerging artists and independent promoters to other local nonprofits and neighborhood businesses,” according to Glendale Arts CEO Elissa Glickman.

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Coronavirus Demographics: Younger People Also Afflicted

While the tally of positive COVID-19 tests grows larger, the average age of patients has been inching lower in recent weeks as the initial wave of the pandemic has surged back with fury.
When the pandemic grew in March and April, hospitals found themselves overwhelmed and low on key supplies to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus, and elderly men and women with pre-existing health conditions represented a large percentage of cases. A significant number of such patients came from skilled nursing facilities, whose residents sometimes made up a super-majority of deaths in a given community.
Now, in the weeks after Los Angeles County and state officials briefly relaxed public restrictions, it’s a different picture.

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Adventist Health Glendale Named One of the Best Hospitals in California

Adventist Health Glendale has been recognized by U.S. News & World Report as one of the best hospitals for 2018-19, ranking 15th out of the 133 hospitals in the Los Angeles metro area and 28th out of the 414 hospitals in California.
Adventist Health Glendale was also named high performing in three of the 16 specialty care rankings for excellence in orthopedics, neurology/neurosurgery and geriatrics, and in three of the nine procedure/condition ratings for top performance in congestive heart failure, colon cancer surgery and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
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