Hoag

My family and I had the pleasure of visiting Newport Beach last week while on vacation from Canada. The beautiful scenery and the friendliness of your people made for a wonderful stay, and you should be duly proud. You should also be proud to have a health-care facility of such quality as Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian. During our stay in Newport I had an unfortunate fall, resulting in injury. We went to Hoag on the instruction of our health insurer, and from start to finish it was an impressive experience.

Newport Beach police arrested an Anaheim man they said assaulted a security guard at Hoag Hospital. Austin Kristopher McKee, 23, was arrested after the incident about 10:30 p.m. Monday, according to Newport police spokeswoman Kathy Lowe. McKee was in the emergency room when he assaulted the guard, Lowe said. He was taken into custody on suspicion of battery. A motive for the alleged attack was unknown. — Lauren Williams Twitter: @lawilliams30

Peer into the cars around you the next time you're zooming down Coast Highway or Newport Boulevard. Each driver is headed to a different destination, but odds are good each started in the same place. As an obstetrician and now a gynecologist at Hoag Hospital, I've delivered more than 2,000 babies. There was a time when my sons tried to banish me from running errands with them, lest we run into someone I first saw in the delivery room. "Can Mom stay in the car while we run into the store?"

NEWPORT BEACH — For Joanne Baker's 50th birthday, she asked for $500,000. It wasn't for her, but for donations to children in South Africa affected by AIDS. What the Hoag Hospital OR charge nurse got in 2001 was $35,000, but that was more than enough to fuel her fledgling nonprofit, Tias Arms, and provide financial support to multiple small organizations in KwaZulu-Natal. The province located on South Africa's eastern coast is not only Baker's birthplace, but also "ground zero" for the country's growing AIDS epidemic, she said.

Richard Dunn In my final column before Hoag Hospital's Dr. Lisa Worsch induces labor on my wife and delivers our first child this weekend, here are 10 wishes for the Toshiba Senior Classic, which also has a pretty big stake at Hoag these days: 1) That Arnold Palmer plays again. Even if the King's scores weren't exactly as low as he would like in his Toshiba Classic debut last year (79-74--153), his appearance was the highlight of the tournament. This year, tournament officials are hopeful Palmer will return to Newport Beach Country Club for Toshiba Classic VII. 2)

A Hoag Hospital doctor will still have to pay an 85-year-old woman's family for failing to notice a blood clot that contributed to her death, an appellate court ruled this week. Dr. Luke Cheung, 49, of Irvine attended to Lois Shafer, of Corona del Mar on Feb. 8, 2009, after she fell in her home and suffered a head injury, according to appellate court documents. Cheung discharged Shafer after reviewing a CT scan of her brain, and sent her home with orders to resume her normal medication, including taking a blood thinner, Coumadin, and have uninterrupted sleep.

Adrianne Wingo and her family were settling down Sunday night to see what was on Netflix when something happened. "We were at home about to watch a movie, and I felt my water break," she said. That made her husband, Trung Nguyen, understandably nervous. The two Irvine residents knew their baby was on the way. They had just had a baby shower Saturday, but nobody could've guessed their child would start coming the day after it. "She said, 'Something's leaking,'" Nguyen recalled.

Newport Beach teenager Annie Fleming was born at Hoag Hospital. In the last two years she's spent more than 300 hours there. And on Thursday, she celebrated her 18th birthday there. For about two years, Annie has volunteered as a candystriper at Hoag, running errands for nurses, interacting with patients and doing her best to make visitors comfortable. The hospital helped bring her into the world, and through volunteering, it's also birthed her career path. "She became a candystriper and it was life-turning.

In an Irrelevant Week Lowsman Trophy banquet for the ages -- one in which Martha Burke would be extremely happy because women were allowed for the first time, ending a 27-year run of stag parties -- Mr. Irrelevant XXVIII Ryan Hoag, a small-college wide receiver, made a big impression in front of the Heisman Trophy winner and a sellout crowd of 1,200 at the Anaheim Marriott. Oh, sure, Irrelevant Week founder Paul Salata fired off his usual jokes and former USC quarterback and 2002 Heisman winner Carson Palmer shared the spotlight with Mr. Irrelevant.

THOUGHTS FROM THE SCENE: Before I even arrived at Julie and Phil Dohrman's Huntington Beach home, I knew their story. Phil had suffered traumatic head injuries in a car accident and Julie, a nurse at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach, had been taking time off work to help her husband through. Nurses at Hoag donated time to Julie so she could keep her job. I knew I wanted to capture a sense of hopefulness for this couple that had been through so much.

Earlier this month, Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach announced to its staff that its physicians would no longer be able to perform elective abortions at the hospital ("Hoag: no more elective abortions," May 8) . This came as a surprise to some of its staff because of earlier discussions regarding "promised" separate policies on birth control in the lead-up to St. Joseph Health System partnering with Hoag. St. Joseph Health System, which is owned by a Catholic charity, has recently finalized its partnership with Hoag Hospital.

In a letter to affiliated physicians and staff, Hoag Hospital announced that elective abortions will no longer be performed at the Newport Beach facility because of the low number of procedures done annually. The decision was based on a review of clinical services performed by the Hoag board that began last fall. Hoag chief executive and President Robert Braithwaite said the hospital places a high value on the level of care it provides, and that there is a direct correlation between quality of care and the number of procedures performed.

Hoag Hospital received $2.5 million this week from Newport Beach philanthropists George and Julia Argyros, the hospital has announced. The gift will fund additional education for nurses at Hoag Hospital. The money from the Argyros Family Foundation was presented Thursday as part of Hoag Hospital's annual Nurses Day. "My sister, Connie Jones, was a nurse for over 40 years," Julia Argyros said in a prepared statement. "I saw how hard she worked, how dedicated she was to nursing and how important it was to her that her patients receive the best care.

The American College of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons will announce Dr. Charles Hasse of Irvine as its new president at the group's annual scientific conference in Scottsdale, Ariz., next week. Hasse, a surgeon at Hoag Hospital and director of the Center for Oral Reconstruction in Irvine, will officially be elected as the organization's 21st president April 22. "We have chosen a proven leader who exemplifies the surgical excellence, citizenship and collegiality which the college emphasizes in its membership," said current president, Dr. Leonard Spector of Baltimore, Md. Hasse graduated from the University of Detroit School of Dentistry and completed his residency in oral and maxillofacial surgery at the Long Beach Veterans Affairs Medical Center and UC Irvine, College of Medicine.

Hoag Hospital has been named to Becker's Hospital Review's annual list of the "100 Great Hospitals in America. " Established in 1952, the Newport Beach-based 579-bed hospital was the only Orange County facility to join leading academic medical centers, community hospitals, flagship facilities and specialty hospitals from across the United States. Hoag recently announced that it will be affiliated with a new parent organization, Covenant Health Network. "We are thrilled to be named to Becker's Hospital Review's '100 Great Hospitals in America' list yet again," Robert T. Braithwaite, Hoag president and chief executive, wrote in an email.

You are invited to Wednesday's Newport-Mesa-Irvine Interfaith Council luncheon for a presentation on the effect of the new healthcare laws on you, your doctor and your hospital. The presentation will be made by Robert Braithwaite, chief operating officer of Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian. The luncheon will be held at Hoag's conference center on the lower campus, Room CC2. Enter the lower campus off Pacific Coast Highway. Registration begins at 11:45 a.m., followed by a 12:10 p.m. luncheon, 12:40 self-introductions, 12:50 program and adjournment by 1:30.

Newport Beach-based Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian and St. Joseph Health on Thursday announced the completion of their affiliation process, which created a new network serving millions of residents throughout Orange County and the High Desert, officials said. "I don't think it's so much how many people we'll serve," said Dr. Richard Afable, former Hoag president and chief executive , who will take the reins of the new network. "It's how we will change what we do in terms of how care will be delivered.

Laguna Beach philanthropists Sue and Bill Gross donated $2 million to help fund the work of Hoag Hospital breast cancer expert Dr. Melvin Silverstein, the hospital announced Monday. The gift establishes the Gross Family Foundation endowed chair in oncoplastic breast surgery, which will allow Silverstein to expand his training of other breast cancer specialists. Hoag's endowed chair system, which is similar to those at academic institutions, gives leaders in a specific field more money and flexibility to pursue innovative treatment methods.

Piercing the sense of security at Newport Beach's cherished medical center, an elderly man fired six to seven rounds in a doctor's office Monday afternoon, leaving a prominent urologist dead. Dr. Ronald Gilbert, who practiced in the Hoag Hospital-affiliated complex at 520 Superior Ave., perished in the gunfire. The 52-year-old Huntington Harbour resident was married, with two children. Stanwood Elkus, 75, of Lake Elsinore, shot Gilbert multiple times in the torso at about 2:45 p.m. in Gilbert's second-floor examination room, Newport Beach police said.

Newport Beach teenager Annie Fleming was born at Hoag Hospital. In the last two years she's spent more than 300 hours there. And on Thursday, she celebrated her 18th birthday there. For about two years, Annie has volunteered as a candystriper at Hoag, running errands for nurses, interacting with patients and doing her best to make visitors comfortable. The hospital helped bring her into the world, and through volunteering, it's also birthed her career path. "She became a candystriper and it was life-turning.