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President's Circle Honoree: Eli Tanenbaum

  • Category: Blog
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  • Written By: PVHMC - Admin
President's Circle Honoree: Eli Tanenbaum

Each of our Volunteers works their magic with our patients, but Eli Tanenbaum has some special tricks up his sleeve.

Eli, who attends Scripps College as a Post-baccalaureate in the Pre-Med program, also spends his time at our Hospital as one of more than 156 active College Volunteers.

He began volunteering here in August of 2017 and originally signed up to volunteer in our Emergency Department (ED), where he spent his time restocking, making beds, and comforting and transporting patients.

However, after just a few months in this role, he realized he wanted to do more to improve our patients’ waiting experience. He decided to share his magic and illusionist talents, which he had been practicing since the age of eight, with the patients, families, and Associates he interacted with in the ED.

On Mondays, Tuesdays, and Sundays, Eli provided some “magical relief” to patients and visitors in our ED. He performed card tricks and close-up magic for adult patients, and silly, cheesy tricks for children. He even pretended to fail at his magic tricks to get a laugh or two.

Our Associates have come to love and treasure Eli and what he does for our patients. They called on him when someone needs a little cheering up; knowing that his small acts of magic provided a welcome and appreciated distraction to patients in pain or who were awaiting the results of a test.

The service Eli provided to our patients is so much more than entertainment.

Eli provided the interaction of a caring Volunteer that did all he could to make each patient’s stay more comfortable.

While Eli is currently taking time off to study for his Pre-Med program, he can’t wait to come back in June to resume his performances. He says his Volunteering experience has helped him to realize his passion for helping children, and he plans to specialize in Pediatrics.

We sincerely thank Eli for sharing his magic performances at our Hospital. He went above and beyond to improve Customer Satisfaction and make patients feel comfortable in our Emergency Department.