Anthony Innabi: A Sudden Calling to Give

More than 100 generous employees of St. John’s Hospitals participated in St. John’s Healthcare Foundation’s 2021 Employee Giving Campaign “Taking Care of Each Other.” In addition to cash gifts, employees donated hours from their PTO bank and signed up for recurring donations via payroll deduction in support of a variety of hospital and community health outreach programs.

One of this year’s first-time donors is Anthony Innabi, a Respiratory Therapist at St. John’s Regional Medical Center (SJRMC). Anthony joined Dignity Health in 2016 and worked at French Hospital Medical Center in San Luis Obispo and California Hospital Medical Center in Los Angeles prior to joining St. John’s in 2018. At California Hospital Medical Center, he supported several capital campaign projects. It was the beauty of the SJRMC campus, particularly the new Mercy Cross tower, that attracted Anthony initially to St. John’s and it is the serenity and culture of humankindness within the hospital that have kept him here.

During the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, Anthony worked around the clock with St. John’s vendors to ensure that the respiratory therapy team had all the supplies they needed while fulfilling his normal day-to-day patient care responsibilities. For his outstanding teamwork, Anthony received a BEE (Being Exceptional Everyday) Award in August 2020.

Anthony always takes the time support his patients and their family in times of need. When a critical-care patient expressed anxiety, Anthony spent the next 45 minutes talking with him and his wife about his feelings. When the patient saw Anthony a month after his release, he immediately recognized Anthony and thanked him again for his support.

Philanthropy is very important to Anthony. Having benefitted from the charity of others as a child, he feels blessed that he found his path in life and is able to give back to his community. Anthony and his family focus their giving on their church, St. Anne Melkite Catholic Cathedral in North Hollywood, but he also enjoys making spontaneous donations to very specific causes.

Anthony initially passed by the Foundation’s Employee Giving Campaign information desk in the hospital cafeteria but as he waited for the elevator, he paused, reflected, and felt a sudden calling to give to the hospital’s spiritual care program. Anthony’s generous gift will enable St. John’s to replace the wall crosses in patient rooms at SJRMC.

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