Rishi Patel, DO, the older of the two Patel sons, earned his bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley and his medical degree at Midwestern University. As part of the CBCC Clinical Team, he specializes in Palliative Care, which helps patients maintain their comfort and quality of life during their cancer journeys. Rishi earned his fellowship in Palliative Care at UCLA and performed his internal medicine residency at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Last year he married his wife, Maya, a pediatric occupational therapist at Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles. He shares his time in both Bakersfield and Los Angeles, and when he's not working, he enjoys being outdoors, surfing and hiking. The couple also has a rescue dog, Sylvia, a sweet Bassett Hound/Pit Bull mix who greeted me in the Patel home entry area with a big smile and a friendly jump.  

 

Amar Patel, Ravi and Naina’s younger son, lives in Bakersfield and is Chief Philanthropy Officer of the Ravi and Naina Patel Foundation. He oversees the Foundation’s philanthropic efforts, identifying organizations in need of grants and developing partnerships that align with the goals of the Foundation. He also earned his bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley with a degree in Molecular Biology. Outside of work, Amar enjoys being outdoors, reading, gardening, and meditating.  

 

With medicine in general, I saw my parents at work and how they built such strong patient relationships. They were so happy in their careers, and there were so many meaningful moments for them. They tried hard to never let someone’s limited financial resources get in the way of the care they were provided. In my Palliative Care practice, I focus on providing my patients with relief from the symptoms, pain, and stress of having a serious illness. I determine along with the patient, “How can I make your life better?” Palliative Care is designed to improve not only the patient’s quality of life, but their family’s lives, too. It’s an area of medicine where you get to demonstrate empathy and make deep patient connections, working with people in some of the most vulnerable moments of their lives. It has a wonderful place in medicine, and it’s an important part of the integrated program we offer our CBCC patients. I’m proud to serve in this role. 

 

Amar, tell me more about your career path. What led you to your position today as the Chief Philanthropy Officer for The Ravi and Naina Patel Foundation? 
After college, I worked in Biotech in Northern California. My career was a combination of science and laboratory work, yet I wanted to make a greater impact on people, the community, and even globally. It was really inspiring to me to watch the work my parents did through the Foundation, which they started in 2005. They both wanted to give back in ways beyond practicing medicine. My parents are big believers in service, as were their own parents in India. I left my career up north and joined CBCC, and several years ago I moved into leading the Foundation as Chief Philanthropy Officer.  

 

Can you share more with our readers about The Ravi and Naina Patel Foundation? 
We give through our family foundation in one of three ways; we find organizations that need monetary grants; we partner with organizations because we believe in what they’re doing; and we find causes that we fund on our own. Our philanthropic efforts are guided by what we refer to as our Five Interconnected Pillars: Homelessness, Education, Environment, Nutrition, and ultimately, Spirituality. If we can address our community needs within the first four pillars, people can begin to work on the final pillar, developing a sense of spirituality. Yet a person can’t typically get to that place until these other four pillars are met.  

 

A lot of it comes from within our family. We’ll talk through ideas, many times over the dinner table. We recognize a need then ask ourselves, “What’s the best way we can help in this area?” Beyond our immediate family, we also have a Foundation Board of Directors. We work with the Board, and many times also with trusted community members and local benefactors. Once we determine there’s a need to be met, Rishi, Mom and I do a lot of research to determine what could be the most effective solution. We not only help our local communities; we also have a number of projects we work with on a global scale, primarily in India. 

 

There’s one story that really stays with me. Our Foundation was working in partnership with a company that helped homeless individuals break their drug addiction. We helped to fund their temporary hotel stays while they were in this process. One older gentleman was both homeless and seriously ill. He was moved from one of the hotel rooms to hospice due to his terminal medical condition. When I met with him in my Palliative Care role, he had so much shame about how he had lived his life. Because of this, he told me and the hospice team he never wanted to see his family again. We worked with him during the last three weeks of his life, encouraging him to forgive himself so he could be emotionally ‘free.’ At the end of his life, he did just that, and reached out to his sister and mother, meeting with them and making amends. He was transformed from being an angry, unhappy man to one of the hospice's favorite patients, full of peace and joy. He felt a sense of completion at the end of his life. It was amazing to know that through our work we could be a part of that human success story. 

 

We know that today, one out of three people will be diagnosed with cancer during their lifetime. But even with these odds, it’s important to know more people are alive today than have died from cancer. We now have newer, more targeted treatments and greater intelligence to battle cancer than ever before. Today, instead of going after the entire body, we can target treatments for specific cancerous cells. That is making a difference! Also, early detection is so important. We continue to share the message regarding the importance of healthy lifestyle changes, exercise, and regular screenings. We definitely have our challenges here in Kern County, and we need to educate and share information when people are young regarding cancer awareness and detection. When you think about some of the more prevalent cancers, nearly all of these have lifestyle changes you can make to reduce your chances of getting cancer. For instance, with lung cancer you can stop (or never start) smoking. With colon cancer, dietary changes can reduce your risk. With prostate cancer, early detection is key through having a PSA test, and with breast cancer, annual screening mammograms can greatly increase your survival rate if diagnosed early.  

 

Colorectal cancer is a big issue right now. Many people aren’t getting their recommended initial screening, and they don’t know they have cancer until they have symptoms, and the cancer is in its advanced stages. Also, people should never let cost get in the way! At CBCC, we offer reduced and no-cost screenings for people who don’t have the resources to pay for specific, common tests like annual 3D mammograms, PSA blood tests, low dose CT scans for lung cancer and fecal blood testing for colon cancer. 

 

When you have cancer, you need specialized care. You want oncology-trained nurses, and you want to be in a dedicated unit with the most professional medical team who has the expertise dedicated to cancer. This floor will be the first inpatient based, specialty cancer hospital floor in the area. 

 

Whether it's during your cancer treatment, or you’re in your final days of cancer before moving to hospice, this is a very difficult time for you and your family. This specialty floor for oncology will provide more comfort for patients, with oncology-trained nurses and staff who understand their unique needs. Our chemotherapy and infusion center will remain at CBCC, yet there will be a variety of cancer treatments that can be administered on this floor too, such as specialized chemotherapy, immunotherapy and additional patient recovery time for some of the more complicated cases like leukemia, pancreatic cancer, and bone marrow transplants.  

 

We explored the idea of this oncology floor with Dignity Health for a long time, and they’ve been excellent partners in this effort. This oncology floor will truly complement the work we both do, and it supports what oncology physicians need to best help their patients.  

 

I also want to stress this new oncology floor isn’t just for CBCC physicians and patients; it’s for any cancer patient, seeing any doctor, working with any treatment center in Kern County – all are welcome and will have this new floor available to them if needed. In the end, this new oncology floor will benefit Kern County patients and allow the proper utilization of resources without redundancy or waste. We expect this oncology unit to be ready for patients in about one year; it will be on the top floor of the new tower, with a beautiful view of the mountains and Mother Nature. Hopefully, that will give people additional inspiration as they rest and recover during their treatment. 

 

To further expand our community’s access to high- quality healthcare, our Foundation recently made another significant donation to Greater Stockton-based Aria University to help jumpstart a new (and the first) medical school they have planned for our San Joaquin Valley. We’re all aware of the severe shortage of physicians and healthcare workers in this area; by helping to open new, more local paths to earning a medical degree, we can help reduce this doctor-to-patient accessibility gap, with an additional goal of retaining more physicians (and trained medical staff) within our area. 

 

Naina, you’re the Director of Mind & Body Medicine at CBCC. Can you share what that means for your patients and how these programs and services can benefit them?   
Many people might not know we offer Naturopathic (non-pharmaceutical) Treatment at CBCC, which is part of our integrated approach to healing. This involves a focus on nutrition, exercise, herbal remedies, and stress reduction activities like yoga and meditation. Dr. Kalyan Gaddam, ND BHMS, is the Director of our Integrative Oncology & Rehabilitation Center. He’s a California-licensed naturopath and was trained at one of the most prestigious centers, the internationally recognized Bastyr University in Seattle. He focuses on finding the root cause of each condition, improving a patient’s quality of life using the body’s ability to heal. Patients diagnosed with cancer can be vulnerable, potentially falling for “cures” they see on TV or the Internet because they’re looking for some type of solution. It's important for CBCC to have a trained and licensed naturopathic specialist to work with our oncologists so we can integrate these naturopathic practices into a patient’s overall treatment program. And it’s not just for cancer patients; anyone who wants a more natural approach to their health and wellness (including pain management) can see Dr. Gaddam. His treatment is an important part of our whole-person approach, and the end results are amazing. Patients love him! 
 

We also have our on-site Health and Wellness Café that emphasizes organic food and portion control, all part of our integrative approach to healing and good health. We provide all CBCC employees with a free lunch from the Café to support their health and happiness. And not known to many, we also have a Universal Chapel housed on our premises. It’s a place where people of all faiths can go when they need some quiet time for reflection and/or prayer. We consider it a very special and sacred space, and an important component of the healing and spiritual journey. 

 

Ravi, in honor of National Cancer Survivor Month, will CBCC be celebrating with any special events?  
Our annual Ignite Inspiration: Cancer Survivor Mixer is a celebration of survivorship. It will be held at CBCC on National Cancer Survivor Day, June 2, from 5 - 6:30 p.m.  

 

This year’s mixer has a luau theme, and we’ll have cancer resources, education, music and entertainment, activities, light refreshments, and raffle prizes. We’ll also take our traditional “Group Survivor” photo. It’s free to attend and open to cancer survivors, their friends and family, supporters, and community partners. You can register to attend in advance at cbccusa.com/events.