I am grateful to have this opportunity to introduce myself and share with you some important aspects concerning my practice of medicine within Kaiser Permanente.
I was raised in Southern California and attended high school locally. I attended college and medical school in Hawaii, and then returned to Southern California for my residency and fellowship training. My parents passed away when I was a young adult, and I have always had the desire to go into medicine to help others. My wife and I have 11 children together, with 8 grandchildren, and so, as you can imagine, our family keeps us very busy!
My practice is unique in that I am what is called a pediatric intensivist and also the medical director of the regional Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at Kaiser Los Angeles. All critically ill children in the Southern California region of Kaiser Permanente are transported and admitted our PICU. This means I only take care of very ill children, and once they are better they are transferred to a regular pediatric hospital bed or back to the referring Kaiser Permanente facility where they are cared for by their pediatricians. I get a great deal of satisfaction in watching these children get better through this very critical part of their lives. I work with parents and families dealing with this stress, and find great strength from them during these crises. I do enjoy seeing former patients after they have fully recovered. I can think of no greater joy than in seeing a young child who was critically ill making a full recovery to enjoy a normal life.
My family keeps me very grounded. I love to garden and do family history. Traveling to visit our family is a high priority for my wife and I.
