Lisa B. Alderrou
PASADENA -- Neatly pinned to the lapel of his white lab coat every
day, a tiny ceramic angel serves as a reminder to Dr. David P.
Tonnemacher there are a number of forces at work with him.
And when he is working on a cardiology patient at the Glendale
Memorial Hospital's Heart Center, the angel can have a comforting effect
on his patients. But when called an angel of the heart by the way he
touches lives with the latest technology, he would reply, Tonnemacher
replies: "No, I'm not an angel."
Colleagues and friends would disagree.
About 300 of those colleagues and friends gathered Saturday night at
the Ritz-Carlton Huntington Hotel in Pasadena to honor Tonnemacher at the
$200-a-plate second annual Angels of the Heart fund-raiser for the
Glendale Memorial Health Foundation.
Tonnemacher was recognized as one of a handful of cardiologists across
the nation who use the Eximer laser to treat seriously damaged arteries.
"I see people who have been to a dozen other doctors and they still
are not healed. Then we try the laser on them and it works," he said.
"I'm in awe of it."
The fund-raiser also recognized first-time recipients of the Dr. John
N. Goodwin Memorial Scholarship.
The scholarship was created in 1998 by Goodwin's widow to help nurses
and technicians further their education, said Michael Pfaff, executive
director of the Glendale Memorial Health Foundation.
Surgical technician Corwin Bass said of his $2,500 award, "It is nice
to be recognized. This is more like a 'thank you' from the big people
above. That's what it amounts to, being recognized."
Other scholarhip winners were Minerva Sezo, a nurse preceptor and
critical-care nurse; Kathy Sugar, a charge nurse in critical care; George
Kenegos, a charge nurse in critical care; Laura Kenegos, a nurse
preceptor and critical-care nurse; Alice Niggemeyer, a nurse preceptor
and critical-care nurse; Dan Ward, an emergency medical technician; and
Dennis Ott, who is an assistant in the cardiac catheterization
laboratory. Each recipient received a different award amount depending on
their needs.
Pfaff said he was expecting to raise $85,000 from Saturday's event,
which would help the foundation realize its goal of $250,000 as a
permanent endowment.
