Why one Valley father says there was only one place to go when every second counted

His heart was failing fast, and he knew it. On Valentine’s Day, Josh Stein drove himself past other hospitals to reach one place he trusted with his life, Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center.

“I’ve worked in the medical field for years, and I knew where I needed to go,” says Josh. “Other hospitals are closer to where I live, but I knew the reputation and that I had only one real option. I thought, ‘I want the best chance, and the staff at Tarzana was going to give me that.’”

The team responded instantly when Josh walked into the emergency department. The last thing he remembers is Moinakhtar Lala, M.D., an interventional cardiologist, standing over him, trying to restart his heart. “He shocked me back to life three times. I felt that. Then everything went black.”

What happened in those critical moments saved his life. Dr. Lala and the cardiac team refused to give up. While they worked to stabilize him, Cedars-Sinai’s mobile ECMO team was dispatched. It was the first official day of the ECMO partnership between Cedars-Sinai and Tarzana. That timing proved vital. ECMO, a device that oxygenates the blood when the heart is unable to, kept him alive long enough to be transferred to Cedars-Sinai for a lifesaving heart transplant.

“If Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana hadn’t had the relationship with Cedars and the skill to hold me until ECMO arrived, I wouldn’t have made it,” he says. “Without that team and that technology, I would have died in the ER.”

Donors made the difference

After a long recovery, Josh is back home in the Valley, focused on what matters most: raising his 15-year-old son, a high school student at Granada Hills Charter. “Every day I get to wake up and put my feet on the ground. I get to hug my son.  That’s everything,” he smiles.

As a long-time health care worker, Josh understands just how rare it is to have this level of care in a community hospital. “I’ve seen other patients in other hospitals with the same symptoms I had. They didn’t make it through the week. People don’t realize how much of a difference a place like Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana makes until it’s life or death.”

Today, Josh doesn’t take a single moment for granted. He knows that he wouldn’t be here without the people, technology and partnerships in place at Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center.

“From the donors to the board to the fundraisers, every single person who’s supported this hospital is part of my story,” he says. “I owe my life to so many people I’ll never meet. Even if you gave just a dollar, you helped save me.”

Surviving what he did gave Josh a deeper perspective on what hospitals need to save lives. “Hospitals are getting squeezed from every side. If we don’t keep investing in Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana, we’re going to lose people who could have been saved, people like me. This hospital is essential for our community. I’m beyond thankful it was here when I needed it most.”