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For Steve, the hospital hasn\u2019t just saved his life\u2014it has given him time.<\/p>\nIt was 1997, and Steve, who was 53 at the time had already lived the kind of life most people only dream about\u2014he\u2019d built and sold multiple businesses, spent 25 years on the road producing art and music festivals, and returned home to Sonoma ready for a new chapter with his wife Holly and their two school-aged children.<\/p>\n
He had just taken a year off when everything changed.<\/p>\n
It started during a committee meeting his wife hosted at their home for the Vintage Festival. Steve walked out and said, \u201cI need help,\u201d and fell to the floor. Help came quickly. He was rushed to Sonoma Valley Hospital, where he met Dr. Robbie Cohen, then head of the Emergency Department.<\/p>\n
Steve remembers it vividly. \u201cThey rolled me into the ER, hooked me up to the EKG, and I asked what was going on. Dr. Cohen leaned down and said, \u2018You\u2019re having a heart attack. Stick with me\u2014don\u2019t you go anywhere.\u2019 He was calm, compassionate, and absolutely brilliant.\u201d<\/p>\n
That night, a dedicated team stabilized Steve and got him transferred for advanced care. He pulled through. \u201cDr. Cohen pulled me out of the soup,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
In the 30 years since, Steve has returned to Sonoma Valley Hospital more than once\u2014and not just for himself. \u201cThree years ago, my wife Holly fell and needed a hip replacement\u2014she had it done right here. And in 2023, I had another cardiac episode. Once again, the hospital pulled me through.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of those episodes could have been his last. \u201cThe last heart attack I had, a doctor told me I was lucky\u2014I might\u2019ve had another 30 minutes if I hadn\u2019t made it to the hospital. I had 96% blockage in one artery. Time is everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
He believes having a hospital nearby is not just about convenience\u2014it\u2019s about survival. \u201cFor cardiac events, car accidents\u2014whatever it is\u2014the ambulance can only do so much. You need to get stabilized. The hospital is part of the safety net of this community. Like a fire hydrant, you don\u2019t think about it until you need it. But when you do, it better work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Steve and Holly\u2019s connection to Sonoma runs deep. Fifty years ago, they were living in Berkeley when a weekend wine-tasting trip brought them to Sonoma\u2014and changed their lives.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe saw a house we loved, made an offer, went home and told our neighbor, and he offered to buy our place in Berkeley. We moved in a matter of days. It was meant to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
They raised their children here, and in the years since, three of their granddaughters have been born at Sonoma Valley Hospital. Steve even served on a committee that helped decide whether to upgrade the hospital to meet seismic safety standards. \u201cI\u2019m delighted we kept it. Three granddaughters came out of that hospital\u2014my wife\u2019s had a procedure there\u2014and I\u2019ve come out of there a few times myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Steve, the hospital hasn\u2019t just saved his life\u2014it has given him time.<\/p>\n
After that first heart attack, Steve wrote to the people he hadn\u2019t finished with\u2014those he loved, those who shaped his life, and those he wanted to thank for being in his life\u2014to tell them he was a different man because they were in his life.<\/p>\n
Fifteen years later, he spoke to an old friend\u2014a band manager\u2014he hadn\u2019t seen in years. That friend told him he still had the letter Steve sent. It had been pinned to his bulletin board for all that time. \u201cHe told me he looked at those words every day\u2014and they helped him through some really hard times.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the power of time. The time Steve gained because the hospital was close. The time to say what matters. To connect, to love, to live fully.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been here for the hospital,\u201d Steve says, \u201cand the hospital has been here for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Steve\u2019s story reminds us that Sonoma Valley Hospital doesn\u2019t just save lives\u2014it gives people the time to live them.<\/p>\n
Give today and help keep our community healthy, here at home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":22237,"template":"","class_list":["post-22215","hospital-story","type-hospital-story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/svh.bitsculptor.net\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hospital-story\/22215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/svh.bitsculptor.net\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hospital-story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/svh.bitsculptor.net\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/hospital-story"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svh.bitsculptor.net\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/svh.bitsculptor.net\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}