The myriad challenges of treating patients, coordinating with other professionals, and staying abreast of research into diseases and treatments don’t keep top regional doctors from going above and beyond to find ways to give back, whether in their own communities or in settings far from home. Business Life Magazine salutes the region’s doctors, representing a range of hospitals, who are our Healthcare Heroes:

Glendale Adventist Medical Center
Dr. Simon Keushkerian
Chief of Medical Staff
Dr. Keushkerian is a board certified general and vascular surgeon who started his private practice in Glendale almost 25 years ago. He is recognized as GAMC’s chief physician surgeon and performs various complex surgical procedures with a high level of expertise.

Dr. Keushkerian is also a clinical associate professor of surgery at Loma Linda University Medical School, a member of Peripheral Vascular Surgical Society, and a member of American College of Surgeons. Throughout his professional practice years, Dr. Keushkerian has demonstrated outstanding leadership and lasting dedication to medical excellence at Glendale Adventist Medical Center and to all his patients.

 Despite his hectic schedule, Dr. Keushkerian somehow manages to make time for humanitarian work, which has led him to volunteer in Malawi, the Philippines, Armenia and Peru. He has performed many surgeries which have positively affected the lives of countless patients who otherwise had no access to advanced medical care. “I feel very fortunate to have been trusted with such challenging missions,” Dr. Keushkerian says. “It is very rewarding to have a skill that helps improve the health and well being of mankind.”

Glendale Adventist Medical Center
Faisal Khan, MD
General Surgeon
Dr. Faisal Khan has traveled to Peru every year for the past 10 years. He takes with him an organized group of physicians, nurses and technical specialists to provide free medical care for impoverished Peruvians.

Each year, Dr. Khan’s group sends out advance announcements of its upcoming visit to Peru in the surrounding area, and some people walk more than a hundred miles to be there when the group arrives in order to receive free medical attention. The majority of cases they see are pediatric surgeries, but they have also treated cleft palate patients.

Dr. Khan also traveled to Pakistan in 2005, after the Kashmir earthquake, to volunteer and provide medical relief to many who were injured. He said he would eventually like to open a clinic in Pakistan.

When asked where else he'd like to do missionary work, Dr. Khan replied, "Everywhere. I'd like to stop working, retire, and go wherever I'm needed."

White Memorial Medical Center
Dr. Martha Preciado,MD, FACC
A graduate of UCLA School of Medicine, a respected cardiologist, and a 2011 Business Life Woman Achiever, Dr. Preciado practices where she wants to make a difference: in Boyle Heights.

Dr. Preciado joined “Ordinary Women” in 2010. Based in Mission Viejo, its mission is to support orphanages in Kitale, Kenya. The group helps villages and tribes of the area, visiting with supplies and providing services. “I was able to educate physicians in Kitale about current facts and research within cardiovascular disease management,” says Dr. Preciado. “Our organization pays for hospitalization and all medical related needs for any children we admit to the hospitals. Due to the poor health care system, and lack of funding, our services are vital to the children of Kitale. On my recent journey in July 2011, more than 6000 patients were screened in two slums of Kitale.”

Dr. Preciado has treated children and families for diseases including malaria, worms, intestinal abnormalities, and for multiple types of infections. “On my journey, I had to admit one child with severe malnutrition, and another suffering from a severe abdominal ulcer that had ruptured. The experience in Kitale was extremely rewarding, and being able to help a community in such dire need was priceless. Fundraising is a continued effort for the Kenyans, and we recently assisted them in purchasing an electrocardiogram machine. In 2012, I will go back to the orphanage and visit a girl I took under my wing last year: ‘Testimony Wanyama’.

Dr. Preciado says she will never forget the hugs of those children whose qualify of life she improved.