John Gordon Harold, MD
LACMA member since 1985
John Gordon Harold, MD, chief of staff at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, played a key role in launching the hospital's new 250,000-square-foot Saperstein Critical Care Tower. The facility, which opened in December, consolidates the hospital's critical care services in one building. As the chair of the Saperstein Critical Care Tower Operations Committee for two years, Dr. Harold was primarily responsible for providing medical staff input, ensuring that the new facility meets the needs of physicians and patients alike.

"The medical staff and ICU directors were very involved in the creation of the tower," Dr. Harold says. "We offered input on everything from design specifications to building safety, and we met on a monthly basis with our partnering companies."

The 150-bed facility has 11 levels and incorporates several innovations that reduce wait times for and multiple transfers of the hospital's most fragile patients, Dr. Harold says. The new features enable the staff to deliver integrated, technologically advanced care.

The Saperstein Critical Care Tower replaces buildings severely damaged by the 1994 Northridge earthquake. "We have met all state earthquake requirements," Dr. Harold says. "We implemented power system redundancies and evacuation redundancies, and used reinforced glass and a special foundation. The building is about as earthquake-safe as you can get."

Dr. Harold was named chief of staff at Cedars-Sinai in 2004. He previously served as vice chief of staff, secretary of the medical staff, and clinical chief of medicine and cardiology at Cedars-Sinai. He opened his private practice in internal medicine and cardiovascular diseases in 1985.

Tim Korber, MD, and Brian Grade, MD
OCMA members since 2001
Korber, a Placentia emergency physician at Placentia Linda Hospital, and Grade, an emergency physician at Hoag Memorial Hospital in Newport Beach, were recognized by the Orange County chapter of Trauma Intervention Programs Inc. TIP provides emotional support to victims of emergencies ranging from car accidents to crimes.

TIP's 10th Annual "Heroes With Heart" banquet in Irvine not only honored more than 70 of its volunteers, but recognized "responders" such as physicians, nurses and police officers, who show extraordinary care during emergencies. Drs. Korber and Grade were given awards for providing emotional support to those who had relatives suddenly taken from them.

"A man lost his wife to cardiac arrest and he wasn't expecting it," Dr. Korber says. "[A TIP volunteer] was struck by my compassion because I was doing what she is already trained to do. As physicians, many of us forget that comforting people is part of our job."

A national nonprofit organization founded in 1985, TIP establishes and operates chapters across the nation. Through citizen volunteers, TIP provides support to emotionally traumatized citizens immediately after tragedy strikes. Hospital personnel, police officers, firefighters and paramedics call for TIP volunteer assistance 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Volunteers assist family members following natural or unexpected deaths; victims of crime; disoriented or lonely older people; victims of vehicle accidents; family members after a suicide; and anyone emotionally traumatized by a crisis.

Dr. Grade was recognized for assisting a woman whose father died of heart problems the same day of her daughter's wedding. The woman was completely distraught because she thought her father died alone, and she never had a chance to say goodbye.

"The woman started feeling guilty because she wasn't at the hospital when her father died," Dr. Grade says. "I reassured her that her father understood that she was attending her daughter's wedding, and that he did not die alone or in pain."

Barry Solof, MD
LACMA member since 1976
Solof, who has served as chief of addiction medicine at Kaiser Permanente in Baldwin Park for the past five years, was named the new regional chief of addiction medicine for the Southern California Permanente Medical Group (SCPMG). In his new role, Dr. Solof will maintain and improve Kaiser's addiction services of detox and rehab in facilities across the Southern California region.

"I'd like to make the public more aware of the excellent services that Kaiser provides to people with addictive diseases," Dr. Solof says. "Up to 10 percent of the population have problems with drugs and alcohol. These services are a wonderful resource for our community."

Dr. Solof has held medical director positions at the Chemical Dependency Unit at Tustin Hospital, Washington Medical Center Recovery Unit in Culver City and Outpatient Chemical Dependency Service at New Beginnings Hospital in Lakewood. Before joining Kaiser in 2000, Dr. Solof held a private practice in addiction medicine for 20 years, where he primarily served Edgemont Hospital in Los Angeles.

"Dr. Solof maintains a true love for his chosen field, and I am confident that his energy and vision will benefit his colleagues and our members," says Jeffrey Weisz, MD, medical director for SCPMG. "He blends a consensus-minded approach with the strategic drive that is so essential to leadership in our group."

Seyed M. Rezaian, MD
LACMA member since 1985
Rezaian, an orthopedic surgeon and medical director of California Orthopaedic Medical Clinic Inc. in Beverly Hills, held an open house in late November to unveil his new Super Open MRI, the latest medical technology from China. The Super Open MRI provides a safe and fast MRI within minutes. This is the first machine of its kind imported to the United States, according to Dr. Rezaian.

"Unlike most MRI machines, the Super Open MRI is a flat table that people can lie on," Dr. Rezaian says. "It is not a noisy vacuum that people are forced to stay in for nearly an hour."

Dr. Rezaian says the technology enables him to diagnose conditions of his pain-ridden patients in 10 to 15 minutes. In addition, a higher-speed MRI limits the risk to patients.

"Before, I did X-rays, which use radiation, and can cause harm to the patient when repeated," Dr. Rezaian says. "The Super Open MRI uses magnetic power and is absolutely harmless."

With X-rays, Dr. Rezaian was only able to discover bone fractures. But the Super Open MRI allows him to see soft tissue, which helps him detect a herniated disc, a tumor or cancer.

In March, at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons annual meeting in Chicago, Dr. Rezaian will discuss how orthopedic surgeons can utilize the new Super Open MRI.

David G. Diaz, MD
OCMA member since 2005
Diaz, a Fountain Valley obstetrician/gynecologist and medical director of West Coast Fertility Centers in Orange County, recently facilitated the first frozen egg pregnancy and birth in California. Dr. Diaz utilized the frozen egg technique on Barbara, a 43-year-old woman who couldn't get pregnant and failed several in-vitro fertilization attempts. Barbara delivered a girl, Cadyn, weighing 5 lbs. and 15 oz., in mid-October at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange. To date, there have been 110 frozen egg live births worldwide.

"My team and I have worked on this project for five years and have perfected the technique of taking a woman's fertile, healthy eggs and thawing them years later to achieve a pregnancy," Dr. Diaz says.
Human eggs are different from embryos in that they are unfertilized at the moment of freezing. The donated eggs used by Barbara had been stored for a number of years in the center's laboratory.

The technique involves taking a woman's eggs, freezing them, then thawing and inseminating the eggs with the sperm. The embryo from the insemination is then transferred to the intended mother.

The center is planning to expand the program so that more women can learn about this reproductive option. "Egg banking, much like sperm banking, gives hope to women like Barbara, who delay pregnancy for personal or career reasons," Dr. Diaz says. "Women may also choose to store their eggs if they are candidates for cancer treatment, or if they have ethical concerns about freezing embryos."