Name aside, it’s way too easy to describe the Heart of Hearts Gala as a function that’s all heart.
But it is, so here goes:
The recipient of the 2007 Henry M. Porter Award, Dr. Bruce Paton, is a pioneering cardiac surgeon; the dramatic red and black decor, by Valerie Schaefer’s VS Design, had hearts all over the place; and the money raised went to cardiac care programs at the Littleton and Porter Adventist Hospitals.
Which brought the event full circle, because Heart of Hearts Gala was started 27 years ago to support the renovation and expansion of Porter Hospital’s cardiac care unit. In subsequent years, Heart of Hearts has benefited other programs in the Adventist Healthcare system, including the emergency departments and cancer care.
This year’s headliner, comedian Bob Newhart, entertained at the second Heart of Hearts, something that caused him to observe, as only he can, that his first appearance was so good that organizers must have said: “Gee, that guy was good. We’ll have to get him back real soon.”
James Reis, chairman of the Rocky Mountain Adventist Healthcare Foundation, presented the Porter Award to Paton, who spent 16 years as a cardiac surgeon at Porter Hospital and was the first in the world to use a sterile ultrasound probe in heart surgery.
Paton, who was born in India, educated in Scotland and has trekked every continent, showed his heart by dedicating his award to “The wives of doctors, including my own. They tolerate us, and even get used to us.”
The 350 guests included the CEOs of the Littleton and Porter hospitals, Ken Bacon and James Boyle; Greg Burfitt, CEO of Centura Health; and Bill and Betty Ruth Hewit, whose Hewit Charitable Trust was a double Platinum Heart Sponsor.
Also, Jack and Lois Kennedy; Michael Blair, Porter Hospital’s chief financial officer; gynecologist Ken Petri; 2005 Porter Award recipient LaFawn Biddle; Beth and Joel Edelman; Jay and Desiree Abou-Jaoude; Jeannie and Ken Bennington; Drs. Bill and Georgeanna Klingensmith; Holley and Dr. Karyl VanBenthuysen; Darrell Schulte, chairman of the Littleton Hospital Foundation board, and his wife, Cherrelyn; 9News anchor Mark Koebrich, who emcee’d, and his wife, Kathy; Adele and Bill DeLine; and the two stars of the evening’s video, Brian Healy and Dr. Brad Hofer.
Healy, thinking he was experiencing heartburn, at first debated whether he should seek medical help. It’s a good thing he did, because once he arrived at the emergency room, doctors determined he had suffered an aneurysm that would have killed him had he procrastinated even another 15 minutes.
Hofer performed the life-saving surgery.
Society editor Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@denverpost.com. Also, .
