Christinia Ukrainski-Pomeroy, a retired Denver doctor whose main interest was “saving babies,” died Nov. 29 in Savannah, Ga. She was 64.
Ukrainski-Pomeroy was a neonatologist who worked with babies who had health problems, most often those born prematurely.
All she wanted was “to be a doctor and save babies,” and she was devastated when she had to give up her practice because of back problems, said her husband, Kim Pomeroy. She also suffered from other health issues, including pulmonary fibrosis.
Ukrainski -Pome roy worked for more than 25 years at Exempla St. Joseph Hospital and later for Kaiser Permanente.
Over the years, she and her colleagues cared for thousands of infants born with health problems. Over time, the babies’ survival rate rose drastically with medical advances, Pomeroy said.
A highlight for Ukrainski-Pome roy was the annual gathering held for families and their children (of all ages) who had been cared for at St. Joseph. “That kept her going,” Pomeroy said.
Many of her former patients greeted her with, “Hey, I made it.”
At a 1984 reunion, “many of these children were seriously ill and on ventilators,” Ukrainski- Pomeroy said in a Denver Post interview. “To see them after they’re doing so well gives a sense of satisfaction and joy.”
Some parents kept in touch with Ukrainski-Pomeroy for years after their babies had been cared for, Pomeroy said.
“She was one of the most meticulous doctors I have ever known,” said Dr. Alfonso Pantoja, who worked with Ukrainski-Pomeroy for years and now is director of the neonatal unit at St. Joseph.
“She was the role model for a lot of doctors and nurses because everyone trusted her clinical judgment,” Pantoja said.
Ukrainski-Pomeroy was so dedicated, “I sometimes didn’t see her for 48 hours at a time,” said her husband, because she would be on call after her shift.
Among the crowd at her retirement party were quadruplets she had taken care of five years earlier, her husband said.
Christinia Ukrainski was born in New York City on Jan. 13, 1944, and graduated from State University of New York Medical College.
She wanted to be a veterinarian, said her husband, but after she took pediatrics courses, she changed her career path.
She did her residency at Cedars- Lebanon (now Cedars-Sinai) Medical Center in Los Angeles.
It was while she was there that she met Kim Pomeroy on a tennis court. They married July 21, 1973, and moved to Denver in 1979, when she got a job at St. Joseph and he got one in advertising at the Denver Dry Goods Co. They had no children.
In addition to her husband, Ukrainski-Pomeroy is survived by her sister, Michele Ukrainski-Fitzpatrick of New York City, and her stepbrother, Ray Paluszek of Payson, Ariz.
Virginia Culver: 303-954-1223 or vculver@denverpost.com
