Katie Hooks (left) visited the new unit Jan. 8 with TriVent Healthcare CEO Sam Nimah.
In light of the firestorms devastating the Los Angeles area, a planned celebration of Pipeline Health’s new Ventilator Liberation Unit at East Los Angeles Doctors Hospital was cancelled. The new unit is a collaboration between Pipeline and TriVent Healthcare
Among the speakers on site for the Jan. 8 event was Katie Hooks, a 25-year-old previously treated at TriVent’s unit at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
While the larger celebratory event was cancelled, Hooks did share her story with some of the staff training on the new unit.
“A few years ago, I was a healthy, active student at Jackson State University,” she said in a pre-event interview. “I was busy as a student athletic trainer, and I enjoyed playing volleyball and softball and walking.”
At age 22 she experienced swelling in her face. Over time, other areas of her body were swollen, and she became immobile. She had trouble walking and had no use of her hands.
“I was diagnosed with five different autoimmune diseases that essentially took over my body,” she said. “I went into respiratory distress – and I needed a ventilator to breathe. I was treated at the University of Alabama at Birmingham medical center. Doctors there told me I would be on the ventilator the rest of my life. They said this was my new normal.”
Hooks proved them wrong.
“Being on that ventilator for two weeks was the worst thing I’ve ever experienced,” she said. “I was depressed, and there wasn’t much hope for me.
“That was until an ICU doctor told me and my parents about the Ventilator Liberation Unit. There was a wait list – but I was accepted,” she said.
Hooks recalls that no one on the specialized unit was going to give up on her.
By August of 2022 she returned to college and graduated in May of 2024.
“Before my health issues developed, I had thought about a career in nursing or respiratory therapy,” she said. “My experience led me to know that I would become a respiratory therapist.”
Shortly after graduation Hooks went to work at the Children’s Hospital of Alabama, caring for children with respiratory issues.
“I am committed to helping them – and other patients – because I’m so thankful for the team that helped me through a very difficult time,” she said.
1.8.2025