Retired doc still a hospital regular
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| At 87 years old, Dr. Kenneth O'Brien is now retired, but still volunteers at Community Regional's information desk twice a week. |
“Back then, we didn’t specialize in one thing…we delivered babies, removed tonsils, we did it all,” Dr. O’Brien said. “When I first started my practice, penicillin wasn’t even in use yet.”
That was in 1945. He said he has seen many changes in his 56 years of medical practice, a time in which he served on the original Sequoia Hospital board of trustees and later the Sierra Hospital and Community boards for 43 years, before being awarded board emeritus status.
With his energy and drive, he and six other doctors purchased Fresno’s Sample Sanitarium on North Fulton in 1946 and renamed it Sequoia Hospital. He went on to help found Sierra Hospital in 1958 and build a caring family practice.
Now retired, at age 87, Dr. O’Brien hasn’t slowed down much and enjoys the routine of his active schedule.
He volunteers 12 hours a week at Community Regional Medical Center on Mondays and Thursdays, helping patients and their families at the information desk or offering to push their wheelchairs. Tuesdays and Thursdays, he serves as a deacon at the Woodward Park Church of Christ, and every Wednesday and Friday, without fail, he can be found on the golf course with friends.
“I’m an OK player; I really do it for the fun, the enjoyment of it, the exercise and the fresh air,” he said.
Staying active has kept Dr. O’Brien feeling young at heart and sharp as a tack. So during the summer of 2006 while on a trip to Hawaii, he knew something was wrong when he started experiencing chest pain.
“I got back to Fresno and my doctor scheduled me for an angiogram right away. When we got the results he told me, ‘You’ve got the widow-maker’ … All of my arteries except one were blocked.”
His cardiologist (Dr. Rohit Sundrani) scheduled him right away for surgery at Fresno Heart & Surgical Hospital.
“You walk into that lobby and it’s just like the Taj Mahal,” Dr. O’Brien said. “It is beautiful…the rooms were comfortable and spacious. The accoutrements are just superb.”
The state-of-the-art facility offers advanced technology and private rooms, and has been rated by HealthGrades, and independent ratings organization, as the best facility in the region for overall cardiac services, cardiac bypass surgery and heart attack treatment.
Dr. O’Brien was a patient there for seven days where he had bypass surgery to restore blood flow to his heart. He describes the care he received as “top-notch all the way.”
After being released from the hospital, Dr. O’Brien spent 10 days at the Leon S. Peters Rehabilitation Center, where he worked to increase his endurance so he would regain the ability to carry on with his daily activities.
But perhaps most telling of his experience is that he’s back on the golf course and chugging along with his busy routine.
“I am so fortunate that I have had no chest pain since then,” Dr. O’Brien said. “I just picked up right where I left off and fell right back into my schedule.”
“The care I received there was superb; I got the best possible care that I could ask for,” he said. “All the good you hear about Community Medical Centers is true. Community is an excellent medical provider. We do things that others just can’t do. Look at the new trauma building…how many of those do you think there are in this state, let alone the country? Not many.”
This story was reported special to MedWatch Today by Suzanne Crosina-Sahm. She can be reached at MedWatchToday@communitymedical.org.