Posted by Divya Sathyanarayanan

As a former nurse, Mita Alobaid understood the importance of taking care of her health. But somehow in the hustle and bustle of patient care and family life, she began neglecting her own health, since the past few years. “Due to high work pressure, I started working very long hours and completely neglected myself, my family, and my health,” says Mita, who is hypertensive and diabetic.

To make

Posted by Divya Sathyanarayanan

John Dalesandro recently dashed across the floor of his restaurant in La Brea, Los Angeles. His patrons were pleased to see him back on his feet after recovering from a partial knee replacement surgery.

Three years ago, John suffered a meniscal tear—an injury caused by forceful or sudden twisting of knee. “Being in the restaurant business, I am on my feet for 7-8 hours a day. I lift

Posted by Divya Sathyanarayanan

As an Emergency Medicine Specialist at CHA HPMC, Dr. Shahrokh Kohanim understood how deadly COVID-19 is—he had seen many critical patients wheeled in to the Emergency Room. But on Dec. 21, Dr. Kohanim became the patient. “I developed severe cough and my COVID test came out positive,” he says.

Dr. Kohanim, who was undergoing an immunosuppressive therapy for a skin disease, was considered a high-risk patient for COVID-19. “I

Posted by Divya Sathyanarayanan

Abdominal discomfort woke Joel Peter Nass in the middle of the night on a Saturday. The discomfort continued, but Joel otherwise felt normal and went to work. By noon, the discomfort had turned into sharp pain and he went to the nearest urgent care. “Suspecting it to be appendicitis, they advised to go to the nearest hospital and HPMC was the closest one,” he says.

At 39 years old,

Phillip Guttmann was admitted to CHA HPMC in mid-March after testing positive for COVID-19. After spending almost seven weeks in the ICU—where our dedicated team of doctors and nurses treat the most critical patients—and being cared for by our compassionate healthcare heroes, Phillip wanted them to know how much they meant to his recovery. Below is an excerpt* from his letter to our staff:

“This is not an easy letter to write but I want