Esme Gibson From the heart

At first, Esmeralda (Esme) Gibson thought the pain was not serious. It would go away by the morning, she reasoned. “I initially thought I had indigestion,” Esme says, “but the pain kept getting worse.” In the middle of the night, she decided to research her symptoms online, and “I saw that what I was experiencing seemed to match the heart attack symptoms for women.” Esme Gibson From the heart. What she read convinced Esme that she needed to call 911, and she was relieved when emergency personnel arrived and transported her to Huntington Hospital, an institution she knew and trusted. Both she and her late husband, Bob, had been patients here in the past. “All the doctors who cared for us were so careful and efficient,” she says, “and I’ve known some of them for a long time. It’s part of the reason Bob and I began donating to the hospital.” Though she was anxious about her condition, Esme was reassured when interventional cardiologist Gregory Giesler, MD, arrived at her bedside in our emergency department. Dr. Giesler had been on Bob’s cardiac care team and, more recently, Esme had heard him speak at a hospital event where he shared information about the latest advances in cardiac care. “I can’t tell you how relieved I was to see him walk through the door,” she says. “I knew I was in good hands.”

Dr. Giesler and his team worked quickly to care for Esme. After two stents were inserted to treat her blocked artery, she was transferred to our definitive observation unit (DOU) for careful monitoring until she was well enough to return home. She now participates regularly in our cardiac rehabilitation program, which provides physician-supervised exercise and other services to support heart health.

Having spent her career in journalism, Esme was Esme praises the care provided by Huntington Hospital physicians including interventional adept at research. What she learned online about her cardiologist Gregory Giesler, MD (above). symptoms proved lifesaving. “I want others to know that for women, a heart attack might not present with the classic ‘male’ symptoms,” she stresses. (See page 18 for more information about heart health.) At the time of her retirement, Esme was a news editor at the Los Angeles Times. Bob’s 19 years as the Times’ foreign editor took him around the world. When he became the international economics correspondent for the paper, Esme often accompanied him as his photographer. After his retirement, the couple continued to enjoy travel. In addition, closer to home, they both secured magician memberships at the exclusive Magic Castle. The Gibsons also participated in the community — both through volunteerism and through philanthropy. After giving to organizations across the United States, “We wanted to have more of an impact on our own community, and we began concentrating our financial gifts locally,” Esme says.

Esme and Bob supported our work in many ways — providing cash gifts as well as direct contributions of appreciated stock. In addition, they gave using tax-smart qualified charitable distributions through an individual retirement account (IRA). While many of their gifts were made without restriction, Esme most recently chose to focus increased support toward an area that is close to her heart, making a multi-year pledge of funds toward the creation of our new cardiac center. “One of the things that inspires me,” she says, “is that patients will get cardiac care even faster once the center is open.”

Creating the center directly above our emergency department will make it possible to move patients to treatment via a single, speedy elevator ride. This and other enhancements will help reduce time to care when every moment makes a difference.

In addition to expressing gratitude for the care she received, Esme is pleased to honor Bob’s memory through her gift to the center. We will name the Bob and Esme Gibson Patient Room, in recognition for her generous support. “I thought it would be nice,” she says, “to have a lasting memorial like this for Bob.”