Issue link: https://blog.providence.org/i/1508536
2 | Health Matters: Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center Letter to the Community S oon we will kick off the holiday season, celebrating Thanksgiving with family and friends. In the spirit of giving thanks, I want to share my profound gratitude to everyone who made our vision for the new Friese Family Tower a reality. Thank you to our construction team, donors, caregivers and physicians for your dedication and commitment to excellence throughout this rewarding project. Nearly a month after the opening, our new tower has created an exceptional experience for our patients, who now have an ultramodern facility in their backyard. In this issue you'll read about the deep roots we've planted into our community and meet the caregivers who have dedicated so many years to our hospital. You will also read about the hard work that went into the success of our new tower and see how we celebrated this significant project reaching completion. As I think about our 50-year legacy of incredible care in the West Valley, I am eagerly looking forward to the next 50 years serving our community. At Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center, we are proud to be your partner in health. Nick Lymberopoulos, Chief Executive Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center A Look Back: 50 Years of Compassionate Care W atergate and Secretariat grabbed the headlines in 1973. Bell bottoms were oh so cool, and All in the Family was halfway through its five-year reign as the top TV show. And in the burgeoning West San Fernando Valley, Tarzana Hospital opened its doors, quickly becoming an integral part of the community. Today, as Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center, it proudly celebrates its 50th anniversary, embodying a legacy of exceptional and compassionate health care. Through the eyes of longtime caregivers, we can get a glimpse at the hospital's incredible evolution. Lisa Markell-Irani, a respiratory care practitioner, has spent nearly 45 years at Tarzana, drawn by the convenience of a job close to home and by the rewarding work. "Our department has a long history of longevity of service, and there's a reason why we stay—it's been my second home since I started. It becomes a part of you," she says. Markell-Irani met her husband, Shahab Irani, at Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center, where he also worked as a respiratory therapist for 38 years before retiring. "Everyone knows him and knows me—now we're just 'Ma and Pa,' " she says. "I feel Tarzana is a great family. We created our own family here." Markell-Irani explains that longtime caregivers like her have seen a multitude of changes over the years, thanks to the fast- paced evolution of modern medicine, which once called for charting to be done on paper and for syringes to be washed by hand. "Technology has changed everything," she says, noting that charting is now done electronically and syringes are now disposable. "Yet we still survived," she points out. "Medicine is a second language—you have to understand it to appreciate it and to act upon it, and you have to like what you do." Joyce Le Gault, an acute charge care registered nurse in the Mother/Baby unit, loves what she has done since beginning her