![]() ![]() It was easy if people were trained in med school, and it was hard for practitioners who had never had computerized electronic records and things like that,” said Seaver.Īs Leiter aged into his 90s, he refused to stop working – even as his health began to deteriorate. “He wanted to lead the way on helping physicians adjust to the changes and of course depending on what decades you were trained in, and so on. So he always served a major role with the medical staff.”Īs the medical world entered the 21st century, Seaver said Leiter was, once again, a pioneer – advocating for the latest technologies available and making advances in digital record keeping at the hospital. ![]() “When high levels of differences arise among physicians, he would be in the middle of the pro and con issues that might need discussion. “He was an active member and served on almost all the different committees that were self-governing and there was always a moderate voice,” said Seaver. ![]() Following this he ended up on several committees and grew the admiration of anyone who worked under him. Leiter’s hard work did not go unnoticed at Henry Mayo and in 1983, he became the CEO of the Family Medical Center. I mean, he could easily just have said, ‘I’m not interested, there’s no money in that.’ It was a purely volunteer move, he might have gotten something little, but it wasn’t, it wasn’t a money move.” They needed my dad because of his medical background. And if you’re not familiar, he would get calls in the middle of the night and he had learned how to rappel off mountains and all kinds of crazy stuff…. “So they asked my dad to join this division of the sheriff’s which was called Search and Rescue. “The reason he did that, you’ll see a lot of consistency here with my dad, he said that the sheriff’s needed people with medical training,” said Greg. Like today, the hills and open spaces surrounding the SCV were popular hiking spots and people would get injured and needed to be airlifted. In 1978 he assisted the Reserve Deputy Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Team. In the midst of teaching and caring for the community, Leiter also found the time to help out local law enforcement. But he to give a lot to people in the community.” Really selfless, not a taker… He didn’t want people to give a lot to him. “Always trying to, you know, give people advice if he could in any way, was much more of a giver. “That was my dad, just always, always trying to help people,” said Greg. In addition to his duties at Henry Mayo, Leiter was also a clinical instructor at the UCLA School of Medicine and Northridge Hospital Family Practice Residency Program. He was a man of few words, but if he spoke, we all listened… he just stood out as an obvious leader without really carrying a big stick, so to speak. “He was a perfect gentleman to work with. “He was a pioneer in that sense and the company that ultimately bought that hospital did it to have both the medical staff that he had organized, as well as employees and volunteers that were active in that first hospital all move to Henry Mayo when it opened in 1975,” said Roger Seaver, president and CEO of Henry Mayo. It made more sense to treat patients locally, especially as the population began to grow. At the time, Leiter would have to frequently send patients to the San Fernando Valley – a dangerous, and often life-threatening trek, if the patient needed urgent care. Greg said his father then went about recruiting other doctors to come to the area and to the new hospital. So my dad at a very young age, you know, he would have been in his early 30s, was the only doctor in Santa Clarita.” ![]() “The story goes that, I heard very consistently my whole life, was that when he came out of medical school and went out there and opened his practice, there was one or two older doctors that within a few years. “My mom, being from sort of farm country in western Arkansas, said, ‘Why don’t we go out to a growing area, more rural where, you know, where they really respect the doctors and you can kind of start your own thing.’ So that’s what brought him out there,” said Greg. SCV Signal News Podcast with Aron Bender. ![]()
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