SPOTLIGHT
People MAKE THE MISSION POSSIBLE Scripps couldn’t have made it to 100 without the dedicated employees and volunteers who spend their days caring for patients and supporting staff. Many have spent decades at Scripps and have witnessed firsthand how the health care system has grown and changed over the years. Here, six longtime Scripps employees and volunteers share what they’ve seen, what they’ve learned and why they’ve made Scripps their home away from home.
“I really do love being in the operating room,” she says. “I come to work every day with the expectation that I’m going to help someone and provide quality patient care.” McCullough says she’s enjoyed being part of many incredible health care advances at Scripps. She’s particularly appreciative of A. Brent Eastman, MD, Scripps’ former chief medical officer and the driving force behind Scripps’ first state- of-the-art trauma center in La Jolla. “We all felt so privileged to be there for that new era at Scripps,” she says. McCullough was also part of Scripps’ adaptation of the left ventricular assist device (LVAD) heart surgery, a therapy for patients awaiting a heart transplant. She proudly recalls when she and another surgical tech supported an early LVAD case of a woman in her 30s, who eventually received a heart transplant. But that lifesaving transplant was only possible because of the LVAD operation. “I’m very blessed to get to do this work,” she says. “My time at Scripps has been a wonderful and exciting journey, and I’ve loved all of it.”
51 Years of Service
Ann McCullough Surgical Technologist, Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla Listening to Ann McCullough talk about her responsibilities at Scripps La Jolla, you can see how important the work she and her team do is for patients at Prebys Cardiovascular Institute. As a certified
surgical technologist, she sets up the operating room before a procedure, counts and preps all of its equipment, helps patients get to the operating room, assists the surgeon during surgery and ensures the room and equipment are returned to pre-surgery condition afterward. While this responsibility might sound intimidating to some, for McCullough, it’s a perfect fit.
Stan Amundson, MD Assistant Director, Residency Program, Scripps Mercy Hospital, San Diego The connections Stan Amundson, MD, has to Scripps Mercy Hospital, San Diego, run deep. His daughters were born at Scripps Mercy, and both became physician assistants who completed some training there. He and his wife (also born at Scripps Mercy) both did their residencies at the hospital. “And my wife’s grandfather was actually the baker at Scripps Mercy, back when we had a bakery,” he adds. During his own time at Scripps Mercy, Dr. Amundson has often found himself on the leading edge of medical advancements, such as helping administer a brand-new treatment for metastatic testicular cancer decades ago.
He has also participated in multiple research projects, including the nationally recognized point-of-care ultrasound studies (POCUS) led by Scripps cardiologist Bruce Kimura, MD. Today, he stays at the forefront of medicine by leading the same Scripps Mercy residency program in which he was once a resident. “I’m really proud to train our excellent
physicians for the future,” he says. “They’re smart,
motivated and go on to do incredible work all over the country and right here in San Diego.”
50 Years of Service
26 SAN DIEGO HEALTH | SPRING 2024
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