Month: September 2026

Firefighters from Glendale Fire Department Station 24 spent part of their shift on Sept. 10 with a group of students who have known 9-11 only as history. The station’s crew joined students, families, and staff from iQ Academy of California – Los Angeles (iQLA), a K-12 powered online public school, at its annual in-person Back-to-School gathering, an outdoor event at a local park held in part to remember the 25th anniversary of the attacks. This year marks a quarter century since the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center killed about 3,000 people. This included about 441 emergency personnel, including police and port authority officers and firefighters, who died on the day of the attacks, marking the largest loss of rescue personnel in U.S. history.

The middle and high school students at the event, along with some of their teachers, had not yet been born in 2001, which made the remembrance especially meaningful. “It helped students turn a date in a textbook into a face-to-face conversation with first responders and gave them a sense of how much these crews do for their communities every day and in times of crisis,” the school said in a statement. The annual Back-to-School gathering is one of several events the school hosts to provide an opportunity for its online students to spend a day together. With iQLA being a virtual school, moments like this one give students a way to meet their teachers, build friendships and feel part of a school community.

iQ Academy of Los Angeles – California (iQLA)  hosted its annual in-person Back-to-School event at a local park on  September 10. As an online school, iQLA prioritizes creating opportunities for students to gather in person, build personal connections, and experience the community of a traditional school setting. About 15-20 middle and high school students attended, and were joined by the crew from Glendale Fire Department Station 24 for a 9/11 remembrance for the 25th anniversary. The crew mingled with students, talked about the importance of recognizing those we’ve lost, and the students made thank-you cards for all the hard work they do every day. The students, and even some of the teachers, weren’t even born when 9/11 occurred, so it is a great way to honor those we have lost and educate the students. 

Heart disease survivor advocates for treatment

Kathleen vonKoschembahr, a heart disease survivor, advocates for treatment. Kathleen said that she has always pursued prevention when it comes to her health. However, she began experiencing shortness of breath two and a half years ago and had a wound that would not heal due to her diabetes. It was then that she knew she needed to pursue medical treatment.

She was advised to see a cardiologist, who told her essentially, that there was no hope. Kathleen sought a second opinion.

The second doctor told her that she should consider open heart surgery, even though there was a high risk.

Determined to receive the right care with a doctor she felt confident in, Kathleen sought out a third option and was referred to Dr. Samer Garas at Ascension St. Vincent’s in Riverside in Jacksonville. Garas was very kind and took her concerns seriously. He told her about a protected percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) procedure with Impella, a tiny heart pump that temporarily takes over the heart’s pumping function, allowing the heart to rest and recover during high-risk PCI procedures. It is a minimally invasive procedure that can reduce complications, improve the patient’s quality of life and reduce symptoms of heart disease.

Thanks to the procedure, Kathleen has experienced “two-and-a-half years of pure bliss,” she said.

Kathleen recovered immediately and even went out to dinner with her family after being discharged from the hospital the following day. She has had no problems since. Thanks to Garas and his medical team, Kathleen got to see her granddaughter get married and had the chance to welcome her great-granddaughter.

She recently celebrated her 80th birthday with her family and is enjoying life again. Kathleen recently had the opportunity to fly to Boston to meet the team at Johnson & Johnson MedTech, who made the heart pump that helped save her life. She saw their love for their patients and credits Johnson & Johnson with giving her hope when she thought there was none.

“They have a heart,” she said.

Through her experience with heart disease and treatment, Kathleen said that she learned how important it is to be an advocate for your own health. She wants people suffering from heart disease to know that there are other options. There are many hospitals in the area that offer the treatment, she said.

She encourages people not to wait to seek the help they need and to go to https://www.impella.com to learn more information and talk to their doctor.

For Sydney Pelusio, a quiet day outside playing with her dog, watering flowers or watching her children reach another milestone means more than it once did.

Two years ago, the healthy, active mother of two went to Unity Hospital with flu-like symptoms. Within an hour, she went into cardiac arrest.

“I think I was so out of it that I did not even really recognize what was happening to me until I woke up in the ICU a day later,” Pelusio said.

Doctors performed CPR and brought her back to life.

Dr. Cameron Hall with Rochester Regional Health implanted an Impella device, a small heart pump that helped circulate Pelusio’s blood while allowing her heart to rest.

“These pumps that go in the heart are the size of my pen,” Hall said. “It really is the surrogate for the pump that we have in every human, the left ventricle.”

Doctors suspected Pelusio had myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle, and determined she needed a higher level of care.

She was transferred to Rochester General Hospital and placed on ECMO, a form of life support, before being transferred to Strong Memorial Hospital for a possible heart transplant.

Ainsley Flynn, 22, of the South Side, has been working as a patient care representative in the cardiac ICU unit of Allegheny General Hospital for nine months. Unless she tells them, those patients would never know that less than a year ago, she spent 15 days in that very same unit on life support.

Flynn had just celebrated Christmas in 2024, followed by her 21st birthday two days later. She capped off the celebration by attending a Penguins game. While Flynn was at the game, she got a severe headache.

Still sick six days later, she vomited and lost consciousness. She ended up at St. Clair Hospital, where doctors found fluid around her heart. After a full exam and draining the fluid, Flynn was ready to be discharged. Then, her heart rate and blood pressure spiked.

Flynn was found to be in cardiogenic shock, a condition in which the body fails to pump enough blood to meet the needs of vital organs.

St. Clair ER doctors contacted Allegheny General Hospital and consulted with Candice Lee, a cardiothoracic surgeon.
After reviewing Flynn’s case, Lee believed that the cardiogenic shock was the result of viral myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle caused by a viral infection. Flynn was placed on an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machine to oxidate her blood and allow her heart and lungs to rest. Although her condition had stabilized, she was in critical condition and on a ventilator and Lee wanted her transferred to Allegheny General Hospital for additional care.

A little before midnight, Flynn was flown to AGH, where Lee installed an Impella heart pump, made by Johnson & Johnson MedTech to help circulate the blood, prevent clotting and relieve pressure from the ECMO pump.

OWC secured coverage on FOX 11 for Saban Community Clinic’s new Temple Family Health Center, located in Los Angeles’ Echo Park neighborhood.

The new health center, located at 2121 W. Temple St. on the Children’s Institute’s Otis Booth Campus, is Saban Community Clinic’s first healthcare location serving the Echo Park community and its seventh health center in Los Angeles. The co-location partnership with Children’s Institute puts Saban’s healthcare services within a campus that serves thousands of children and families each year through programs including early childhood education, adult and child therapy, parenting support and care coordination, offering a closer look at a unique approach that will expand access to a full spectrum of family services.

Local human service nonprofits are seeing demand for services rise as state and federal budget cuts strain already limited resources. Through its partnership with Children’s Institute, Saban is making it easier for families to get the care they need. At a time when our communities are feeling the impact of funding cuts and rising costs, partnerships like these help keep essential services within reach and trusted organizations there for the people who rely on them.

The Temple Family Health Center will initially focus on care for children, with comprehensive family healthcare services coming soon. Saban provides compassionate, high-quality healthcare regardless of a patient’s ability to pay.

OWC offered an exclusive media tour of Saban Community Clinic’s new Temple Family Health Center located in Los Angeles’ Echo Park neighborhood.

The Temple Family Health Center is co-located on Children’s Institute’s Otis Booth Campus, where families can access education, counseling, parenting support and other services. This makes it easier for families to connect with healthcare alongside other resources that support their overall well-being, rather than having to navigate a fragmented system on their own.

This model is particularly timely as Los Angeles families face rising costs, economic uncertainty and continued barriers to affordable healthcare. Community-serving organizations are also under increased financial pressure. Partnerships between organizations such as Saban and the Children’s Institute maximize existing resources and connect families with multiple services in accessible, trusted settings.