Our BMHS Heroes

Many Bishop Montgomery alumni serve their communities as frontline healthcare professionals. They are helping people all over the country and all over the world. We are thankful for them every day, especially during the pandemic. We salute our heroes who go to work each day to help those in need.

If you are working as a healthcare professional in any capacity, we would love to include you on this list.
Email alumni@bmhs-la.org.

Nancy McGinley-Holt ‘71 is an RN working for Sutter Health Care in Santa Rosa, CA for the last 21 years. She is currently working telephone triage for their family medicine and respiratory clinics. “Wear your mask, stay home, and stay well.”

Terri Doyle-Cangialosi ‘86 is a pediatric nurse practitioner at the St John’s Well Child Clinic in south central Los Angeles. “We are still seeing some kids for well-child checks, but any kids or parents with a cough, fever, known contact, have to go out to our tents in the parking lot to be screened and possibly tested for Covid-19. I have never seen anything like this in my 23 yrs of practice. The South Bay Mommy Facebook group and community have been great. I have received homemade masks from several people worried that we don’t have enough PPE in our clinic. One dad donated face shields that he is producing in his garage in Redondo with his 3-D printers! Amazing!”

Stephanie Esquivel ‘07 wrote to us with an inspiring message: “My siblings and I all attended BMHS (Stephanie ’07, Jennifer ’08, & Richard ’17). We owe so much to the Bishop community, first and foremost, for the way it instilled in us a desire to serve our communities and put others first. My brother Richard Esquivel, Jr. ‘17 is an EMT at McCormick Ambulance. I am sure there are countless other alumni like him who could use our community’s prayers. My family and I are grounded and strong during these times as a result of our unbreakable faith in God, which of course was only made stronger through our attendance at Bishop. May God the entire Bishop family.

Andrew Bertucci ‘08, a Lieutenant in the United States Navy, served for a time as the head of Communications of Public Affairs on the USNS Mercy. He was one of three officers that was in charge of media relations while the ship was been docked in San Pedro.

Bill Sisco ’65 PharmD works as a pharmacist at Indian Health Service facility in Phoenix, Arizona. In order to reduce patient congestion in waiting rooms, he has helped dispense prescriptions in the parking lot. COVID-19 has severely affected the population on the reservations in northern Arizona. “Hello to all alumni and especially the Class of 1965. Take care fellow BMHS alumni and stay safe.”

Carla Carrillo ‘94 is an RN at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Bea Meneses ‘08, MSN-AGACNP BC, PHN, PCCN (right) and Vanessa Borja ‘07 BSN, RN (left) are proud alumni of BMHS and courageous frontliners taking care of patients at Long Beach Memorial Hospital during this pandemic.

Krystin Conroy ‘07, MSN, FNP-C is a nurse at Northeast Community Clinic in Wilmington, CA. She is a family medical specialist and working on the COVID triage/testing.

Jacqueline Cachuela-Sedillo ‘97 RN has worked for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for over 17 years serving our nation’s Heroes. In addition to being a nurse manager, she is the Situation Unit Leader for the Hospital Incident Command System overseeing patient and bed tracking in response to COVID-19.

Jonathan Fournier ‘09 MD is an ICU physician currently treating many COVID-19 patients.

Sylvia Araya ‘82 MD works in the health ministry in Costa Rica.

Dr. Raquel Fernandez ‘97 is a pediatrician at Children’s Medical Group in Torrance and an on- staff physician at Torrance Memorial Medical Center. “I am honored to serve the community where I grew up by providing both well and sick care to our most vulnerable; our children. I am privileged to take care of many BMHS students and children of BMHS Alumni,” says Raquel.

Cecilia Dong ‘06 RN, BSN works in the ICU at PIH Health Whittier Hospital in the City of Whittier. She graduated from UCLA’s School of Nursing in 2010 and is one of four siblings to graduate from BMHS. Her proud siblings are Lucinda Dong ‘01, Allyson Dong ‘02 and Eric Dong ‘12.

Kathy Baumgartner-Marafino ’85 RN (left) and Danielle Rhoads ‘07 RN, BSN (right) are two of many alumnae working at Providence Little Company of Mary Hospital in Torrance. Baumgartner-Marafino ’85 is the Nurse Manager of Women’s & Children’s Health and Rhoads ’07 is a mother-baby nurse who monitors newborns and assists mothers following their delivery and works as a lactation consultant when needed.

Alexis Miller ’14 is a nurse in the mother-baby unit at Providence Little Company of Mary Hospital in Torrance.

Dr. Laura Valleni ‘87 (left) is a neonatologist in South Carolina taking care of critically ill babies 24/7 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Colonel Alicia Valleni-Matteson ‘89 (right) is the Medical Operations Squadron Commander at RAF Lakenheath responding to the COVID-19 pandemic protecting and assisting United States Air Force personnel and their families in the United Kingdom.

Michelle Verances ‘97 works as a nurse in a nursing home

Lisa Haddox Vera ‘84 RN, BSN, PHN works as an oncology nurse. Go KNIGHTS!

Suzy Velasco ‘91 (left) is an Acute Care/Critical Care Nurse Practitioner working in Neurosurgery at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.

Chris Zabala ‘97 is a Registered Nurse .
Go Knights!

Reynaldo Zaldivar ’91, RN, BSN, MSHSA is the staffing manager of the Department of Surgical Services at Baptist Hospital of Miami.

Jessica Osorio ‘07 RN, BSN, works as an ER Nurse and her father, Vicente Osorio ’87 is a Lieutenant in the Gardena Police Department and has been running Gardena’s Emergency Operations Center since March.

Tricia Castiglione Hoobyar ‘92 is a pharmacist at Doctors Medical Center in Modesto, CA

Jolean Escoto ’19 writes: “Malea Fontanilla ’10 (left) is an ICU nurse at Glendale Adventist Hospital. She’s the funniest, most caring, and most loving person I know. I’m lucky to have someone like her and I know that her patients are lucky to have someone like her caring for them as well. We both are so grateful to have received our education from BMHS and are praying for the community as a whole during this time.”

Three alumna currently working at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles are (l to r): Kathleen Benaza Burgner ‘92, MSN, MBA, RNC, Maternal Newborn Education Program Coordinator; Mary Reyes Gonzales ‘90, MSN, RN-BC, NMF, Associate Director, Nursing and the 2019 Zifkin Family Nurse of the Year; and Yvonne Amansec Kidder ‘93 MSN, RNC-NIC, Education Program Coordinator, Nursing Education. Mary is also the mother of BMHS graduate Jessica Gonzales ’20 and current senior Jared Gonzales ’21.