South Bay public health advocate Robert Grossman remembered as lover of life
Dr. Robert Grossman. Courtesy of Beach Cities Health District
On Thursday evening at sunset, more than 70 members of the Lanakila Outrigger Canoe Club paddled out to honor the “Beach Mensch” — the late Dr. Robert Grossman, a longtime Hermosa Beach resident and fellow paddler.
Fondly known as “Robbie” to those on the water that evening, the renowned cardiologist was a sharply intelligent public health advocate who served on the Beach Cities Health District’s board of directors for two terms.
But it was his aptitude for giving advice and having a laugh that the gathering spoke of Thursday evening.
“He was always smiling and always happy to be there,” said Gregory Tuszinsky, who met Grossman when he joined the club two years ago. “He would always be thinking about other people, and it was totally unsolicited.”
Remembered for his dependability, thoughtfulness and light-hearted nature, Grossman died early Thursday morning at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center from severe head injuries sustained from a fall two weeks ago. He was 67.
“He was like a big brother to me,” said Steve Cannella, a close friend of 13 years and fellow paddler. “It was nothing but laughs with him. He always kept you smiling.”
Grossman was born and raised in Elizabeth, New Jersey and went on to earn his bachelor’s degree at the University of Wisconsin. After earning his M.D. at Yeshiva University’s Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, he relocated to the West Coast for a cardiology fellowship at UCLA. He settled in Hermosa Beach in the early 1980s.
Robbie Grossman, second from front, during a race. Courtesy of Mike McKinney
“We became friends as adults,” said his sister Carol Weiss-Fleischer, who is nine years older. The two siblings spent a lot of time together during his med school days in New York, where she was working on her PhD at New York University. After her brother’s move, it didn’t take long for she and her family to follow his lead westward. They’ve lived across the street from each other in Hermosa ever since.
“He loved life,” Weiss-Fleischer said. “He lived it to the fullest. He loved people. He was funny and smart. People say he’s the smartest person they know; it was certainly true of me. He just brought joy to the table … I’m still in shock.”
On Thursday afternoon, July 9, Grossman came out of paddling practice off the Redondo Beach docks to find that his car had been stolen. He had left his set of keys on his tire, a common practice in local surf parking lots.
Still in his wetsuit, he found a way back to his home and tried to jump onto his balcony to get in through an open window. He slipped and fell 20 feet onto the pavement, suffering severe head trauma. He was transported to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, where he spent nearly two weeks in a medically induced coma in the ICU.
“He had his dog who he loved — he had to give him his insulin shot,” his sister said. “He was cold and in his wetsuit. He was really doing more than what he was able to do.”
Weiss-Fleischer said Torrance police have arrested the two girls who were “joyriding” in the car and are pressing charges (This fact has not yet been confirmed by the Torrance Police Department, whose public information office is closed on Fridays).
Grossman, who worked in private practice as a cardiologist since 1983, was forced to retire unexpectedly early on disability after contracting an illness in 2006. It was a difficult time for him, his sister recalls.
“He could only do so many crossword puzzles,” she said.
When his health returned, Grossman decided to return to school. He earned a master’s degree in public health from UCLA and cultivated his passion for improving community health care. He joined the Beach Cities Health District’s board of directors in 2008, championing the older adult population and nutrition programs that lowered childhood obesity rates in Redondo Beach schools by 11 percent. He was serving the end of his second term when he died.
“Robert Grossman played a leading role in improving the health of our community for decades – both as a talented physician and on our board,” wrote Susan Burden, Beach Cities Health District CEO, in a statement.
Grossman was a key player in bringing the Blue Zones public health initiative to the Beach Cities. The program, which takes lessons from the longest living populations on Earth and applies them locally, has achieved nearly unprecedented, measurable impact — including reductions in obesity and smoking. Dan Buettner, a National Geographic explorer and founder of Blue Zones, said Grossman’s love of life had a deep impact on the community he loved so much.
“Robert possessed an outsized commitment to life and to the health of the community,” Buettner said. “He saw the early potential of Blue Zones and was instrumental to bringing it to the Beach Cities. I will miss him.”
“We’ve lost a great friend, director and colleague,” said Dr. Michelle Bholat, a fellow BCHD board director who credits Grossman for getting her involved with the organization. “He was warm, had a generosity of spirit and I think he had a unique perspective on resolving community health issues. He was very interested in our advancement of care for the elderly and our plans to build some assisted living. That’s lots of breadth and depth there that’s going to be missing.”
Robert Grossman, center, with fellow Lanakila paddlers. Courtesy of Mike McKinney
In the summer of 2009, Grossman almost lost his life while body boarding in large surf. He fractured a vertebrae in the upper part of his spine and suffered another break in his lower back. He was immediately paralyzed from the waist down.
To everyone’s surprise, after two months of robust rehabilitation, he strode into a BCHD board of directors meeting with a cane and neck brace.
“None of us thought he was going to walk again,” said Dr. Bholat, who was then serving on BCHD’s community health board. “It spoke to his resilience and determination.”
At the time of his death, Grossman was also serving on the board of directors for the Association of California Health Districts and as the Associate Medical Director for MedSolutions. He previously served as the Chair of the Cardiology Department at Torrance Memorial Medical Center, as Chief Medical QM of Little Company of Mary Medical Center, as Chief of the Department of Medicine at South Bay Medical Center and as Chief of Staff at Memorial Hospital of Gardena.
“He reinvented himself — there was always another chapter for Robbie,” Weiss-Fleischer said. “That’s why we all feel like there has to be another chapter for him, but there isn’t.”
Grossman is survived by his daughter Garbo, 26, and son Miles, 23.
At the family’s request, donations in Grossman’s name can be made to BCHD’s LiveWell Kids childhood obesity program.