A lifesaver on multiple occasions

How a trip to the Emergency Department made California Hospital Ryan Gerber’s hospital of choice

Grateful patient Ryan Gerber smiling standing in front of CHMC main medical tower “I tell everybody that California Hospital has saved my life multiple times,” says Ryan Gerber, a commercial film director and owner of a small advertising agency.

Ryan, a downtown Los Angeles resident was just two days shy of his 37th birthday in 2014, when he felt a very sharp, pulsating chest pain while sitting on a stationary bike at a gym. He Googled the closest emergency room and found CHMC. He walked himself to our Emergency Department and was diagnosed with an aortic dissection, which had torn his aortic valve, as well as an aneurysm, both of which are fatal if not treated immediately. Ryan underwent surgery to repair the ruptured artery and aneurysm, and had a mechanical valve installed.

Fast forward eight years to late 2021, when Ryan returned to CHMC, again by foot, with severe abdominal pain that resulted in an emergency appendectomy. Mere days after his surgery, Ryan received another unexpected diagnosis: early stage thyroid cancer. Thanks to a discerning examination of his scans, the ED physician on duty at CHMC spotted a nodule on Ryan’s thyroid and recommended a biopsy. Thankfully the cancer was detected early enough so that he could pursue treatment options.

Ryan, now 45, is grateful for the quick-acting doctors and nurses who saved his life more than once and to California Hospital for being his community hospital. His experience inspired him to give to our new tower campaign and reserve a stone-etched tile in honor of his mom and dog. The tile will be installed in a garden walkway once the new patient tower opens in 2023. “It’s the least I could do,” he says. “It’s substantive and not a hard thing to do good and pay it forward.”

CHMC has the only full-service emergency and trauma center in downtown Los Angeles that serves more than 70,000 patients like Ryan annually. Through the Your City, Your Hospital campaign, CHMC will have 51% more emergency and trauma beds in individual private rooms that will help reduce wait times and allow for increased efficiencies, access to the latest technologies and improved collaboration across our multidisciplinary teams—resulting in the best possible care and patient outcomes. Give today to reserve your personalized tile and ensure that CHMC continues to deliver compassionate, high quality and affordable health care services for everyone in our community.