Neighbor News
Local Kaiser Permanente Doctor Honored by L.A. County Sheriff
Thad H. Woodward, MD, receives Medal of Valor for heroism
The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department (LASD) honored Kaiser Permanente Woodland Hills sports medicine physician and Sheriff’s reserve deputy Thad H. Woodward, MD, with the Medal of Valor for his part in the rescue of hikers from Malibu Creek in 2014. The public ceremony took place at the USC Galen Center on October 17, complete with an honor guard and bagpipes, an orchestra and a professional singer performing the Star-Spangled Banner, and included honors for 47 LASD deputies and three other reserve deputies.
Dr. Woodward and two other reserve deputies on his search-and-rescue team responded to a call on March 1, 2014, from four hikers who had been on a trek for about eight hours and found themselves in the Rock Pool area of Malibu Creek State Park, stranded on a small boulder in the center of a raging river.
According to LASD officials, “the search-and-rescue team navigated narrow canyon walls, scaled slippery boulders, and pressed on towards the hikers despite the bone-chilling weather and darkness that enveloped them that night, went above and beyond the call of duty, particularly in their capacity as reserve deputies.”
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Although they could not pull the hikers to safety through torrents of water, the search-and-rescue team coordinated helicopter aid from Ventura County Sheriff’s Department. Dr. Woodward recalls that night as “the most dangerous rescue in all of my 21 years in the Reserves.”
Not only does Dr. Woodward participate in LASD search and rescue, he also volunteers for other community and health-oriented service. He received a Southern California Permanente Medical Group Physicians’ Exceptional Contribution Award for the leadership role he played in coordinating sideline care provided by more than 60 physicians and staff at the Special Olympics and World Games 2015, a program that he continues to support.
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“The energy you get from doing these things allows you to take your day on better,” said Dr. Woodward. “I come into Monday tired, but come in with energy.”
Dr. Woodward has served Kaiser Permanente members in Woodland Hills for 21 years, and has made a lifetime commitment to giving back to the community. “Hands that give are never empty,” he said. Click here to watch a five-minute video segment of the Medal of Valor Awards ceremony honoring Dr. Woodward. Click here to view a photo gallery.