Peninsula People Sept 2017

ties for entire families and rooms designed for sick newborns. Proceeds
from the 31st annual "Honda Evening Under the Stars” Wine Festival on
Saturday, August 26 will help underwrite the new neonatal unit.
Schwartz, 60, was born in Philadelphia. His father, a Navy Air Force engineer,
and his mother, a junior high school teacher, raised him to be a doctor,
he said. He graduated first in his pre med class at La Salle University
and went onto the University of Maryland’s medical school. In 1989, following
his pediatric residency at Saint Christopher’s Hospital for Children
in Philadelphia, he moved to Southern California to accept a combined fellowship
in neonatology and pediatric pulmonology at the Children’s Hospital
of Los Angeles.
“After the fellowship, I stayed in Southern California,” he said. “It’s a
hard place to leave.”
Following a brief stint at Tanzania Regional Medical Center, Schwartz
answered an ad seeking a medical director for neonatology at Torrance
Memorial. He was just 31 years old when he was offered the job. Under
his direction, the hospital has received about 10,000 babies in the Neonatal
Intensive Care Unit.
“Our hospital invests a lot of money in making sure our babies get what
they need,” Schwartz said. “And that’s based on what we tell them, using
evidence-based research. I was always passionate and aggressive in bringing
state-of-the-art neonatal intensive care. That’s why they hired me.”
“One thing about being a neonatologist is that every time our in-house
phone rings, it could be an ordinary call or it could be the start of something
extremely intense,” Schwartz said.
Schwartz moved to Palos Verdes in 1989. He has three daughters, ages
26, 20 and 17. The youngest is a senior at Palos Verdes High School.
“I felt Palos Verdes had the best schools in the country,” he said. “It was
beautiful, low crime, great sense of community. I went there for all the
usual reasons people move to PV.”
Schwartz is a supporter of the Palos Verdes Education Foundation and
the Palos Verdes Junior Women’s League, where he volunteers his piano
chops at some of their events. He was an auction item a few years ago for
a Christmas party. His primary instrument, he said, was the trumpet,
which he began playing in second grade. He played with local jazz quintets
and the Philadelphia Jazz Band, but when he received his fellowship in his
late 20s, he gave up the instrument due to lack of time.
In October, some 300 people will gather for the annual NICU staff and
grad reunion.
“We get to see the children grow up,” he said. “There are a lot of families
that were not critical, but there are also families who had extremely premature
twins or triplets and you just see them running around the room.”
Schwartz said the celebration is his favorite night of the year.
The 31st annual “Honda Evening Under the Stars” Gourmet Food and Wine
Festival takes place Saturday, Aug. 26 from 6 to 9:30 p.m. at the American
Honda campus in Torrance. Saxophonist Kenny G. will perform. Tickets are
$200 per person, or $300 per pair. For more information, visit facebook.com/
eveningunderthestars. PEN
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September 2017 • Peninsula 63