Peter H. Grossman

Peter H. Grossman is a Board-certified plastic surgeon who is the President and Medical Director of the Grossman Burn Centers, headquartered at West Hills Hospital
Dr. Grossman is also co-founder of Grossman Burn Foundation, which provides burn-prevention education and facilitates self-sustaining burn treatment resources in the United States and around the world. His work with burn-injured patients, especially from other countries, has received broad media attention in America and around the world.
He has been recognized as an "Industry Favorite" by Hollywood Reporter, which has listed him among "Hollywood's Top Doctors: Best Plastic Surgeons in Los Angeles," describing him as "one of the most in-demand medical experts in his field," whose clientele includes "on-camera stars plus many producers and executives...."
Grossman Burn Centers
Dr. Grossman divides his practice between cosmetic and reconstructive surgery and care for burn-injured patients. The son of Dr. A. Richard Grossman (1933-March 13, 2014), a prominent Los Angeles surgeon, Dr. Grossman joined his father's practice, Grossman Medical Group, in 1995, and helped build the practice and its original burn center.
History
According to Dr. Grossman's description of the history of the Burn Centers, his father had originally established the first burn center after "a tragic event back in 1958, when a catastrophic fire struck Our Lady of Angeles parochial elementary school in Chicago." "Four nuns and ninety-three children, several of whom were so badly charred it was impossible to tell if they were girls or boys, perished. Many of the bodies were taken to Cook County Hospital and evaluated by emergency room resident, Dr. A. Richard Grossman, my father. The experience had a profound effect on the young doctor and was a driving force behind his vision to create a world-class comprehensive burn treatment facility dedicated to providing the best burn care anywhere. My dad subsequently moved to Los Angeles and set about achieving that vision. In 1969, he convinced Sherman Oaks Community Hospital, located in a suburb of Los Angeles, to devote two beds exclusively to burn care. By 1978, the burn center had expanded into a free-standing, 30-bed specialty unit."
Dr. Grossman's father developed many pioneering techniques that have become standard practice in burn treatment. His practice was one of the first to use a hyperbaric oxygen chamber to put burn victims in pressurized vessels, to help fight infection and promote oxygenation to the tissue. His father ultimately treated numerous firefighters and other burn victims in the Los Angeles area, including celebrities like Richard Pryor. Dr. Grossman first became Associate Director of the Sherman Oaks facility By 2013, the West Hills facility had expanded to 35 burn care beds, making it one of the largest and most comprehensive burn centers in the country.); San Joaquin Community Hospital in Bakersfield; Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center in Lafayette, Louisiana; St. Luke’s Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona; Research Medical Center in Kansas City, Missouri, and most recently, Bakersfield Memorial Hospital in Bakersfield, California.
Kansas City
The Kansas City facility is described on its webpage: "The Grossman Burn Center (GBC) today announced it has signed an agreement to establish a burn center at Research Medical Center in Kansas City, Mo. The eight-bed GBC facility will offer a full range of acute and reconstructive surgical care as well as an outpatient clinic. The new burn unit is scheduled to open on October 1, 2013. The Grossman Burn Center at Research Medical Center is GBC’s first facility in the Midwest and its second collaboration with the Hospital Corporation of America (HCA), the nation’s leading provider of health care services.... In addition to serving the greater Kansas City metropolitan area, the new burn unit also is expected to draw patients from the eight additional HCA Midwest Health System hospitals located within the surrounding 150-mile catchment area. 'Our new Kansas City burn center marks a milestone in the history of the Grossman Burn Centers,' says GBC Medical Director Peter H. Grossman, MD. 'Expanding beyond our traditional base of operations in California and the Southwest not only validates our surgical achievements, but our business model as well.'"
According to the Foundation's website, "GBF is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization and signature projects include helping to open the first highly specialized reconstructive surgery and burn center in Kabul, Afghanistan, publishing a Humanitarian Assistance manual for worldwide distribution, developing a Triage Training Program for physicians in developing countries and Project Faith, an ongoing program to support the needs of burn victims. Faith Wanjugo, the inspiration behind the program, was one of the patients GBF brought here from Kenya, Africa for reconstructive surgery after suffering a severe burn injury."
Other Positions
In March, 2013, Grossman was elected President of the Los Angeles Society of Plastic Surgeons.
Along with his wife Rebecca, Dr. Grossman has been appointed by the United States Department of State as a member of the Health Advisory Committee for the U.S.-Afghan Women’s Council, and has worked closely with Vice Chair Laura Bush and others committee members and officers.
According to a State Department description announcing the launch of the Health Advisory Committee, its first meeting was held at the U.S. Department of State on July 26, 2004. "The Committee, leaders in government, medicine and other health-related fields, will seek to match public and private sector resources with health needs on the ground in Afghanistan, particularly for Afghan women and children." The committee at that time was chaired by Margaret Spellings, Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, and its members included Dr. Julie Gerberding (Centers for Disease Control), Jeffrey Gloss and Linda Gloss (Carelift International), Dr. Peter Grossman (Grossman Burn Center, West Hills Hospital) James Kunder (U.S. Agency for International Development), Dr. Lee Morin (State Department, Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs), Dr. William Steiger and Dr. Howard Zucker (Department of Health and Human Services), and Nazanin Samari-Kermani (White House Fellow).
Dr. Grossman has also been a Clinical Instructor of Medicine of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA,
He has also served as chairman of Region 9 of the American Burn Association, which included California, Oregon, Washington, and Hawaii, and he has been appointed as an expert reviewer by the Medical Board of California since 2001. as well as on the Oprah Winfrey Show, Good Morning America, and numerous other television shows.
In addition, a documentary profiling the story of Zubaida and the Grossmans aired on the Discovery Health Channel in Season 1, Episode 20 of the Super Surgery series, Feb. 20, 2004, as "Super Surgery: A Face Restored." The video, which was produced by Alan Goldstein FBPA, who worked at the Grossman Burn Center, was nominated for an Emmy Award and was given an Award of Excellence by the BioCommunications Association (BCA) in 2004.
The story of Zubaida's journey to recovery with the Grossmans was also made into a book, Tiny Dancer: The Incredible True Story of a Young Burn Victim's Journey from Afghanistan, which was featured as "Editor's Choice" in the 100th Anniversary issue of Reader's Digest for August 2005 as well as a 9-page spread in the May 2005 issue of Reader's Digest.
Aesha
Bibi Aisha (Aesha Mohammadzai) is a young Afghan woman whose nose and ears had been hacked off by her husband for having attempted to flee her abusive in-laws, possibly being a sentence ordered by a Taliban commander. The Grossman Burn Foundation paid for her trip to the U.S. for reconstructive surgery, receiving a prosthetic nose until her ultimate reconstruction was completed at another facility. The image of her maimed face was on the cover of Time magazine in August 2010, under the headline, "What Happens if We Leave Afghanistan." The famous cover has been described as "the magazine cover that horrified the world" igniting a heated debate. Her story was first reported in The Daily Beast in December 2009 and later appeared on World News with Diane Sawyer as an ABC News Special in March 2010 (and again in 2014), documenting the story of her reconstructive surgery in the U.S.
Presentations
Since 1990, he has presented medical research and lectures at more than 40 academic symposia and medical conferences, including Midwest Trauma Conference, NECA Safety Professionals, Pediatric Trauma and Critical Care Conference, Kansas City Plastic Surgery Society, California Society of Plastic Surgeons, Los Angeles Society of Plastic Surgeons, American Burn Association, American College of Surgeons, and other societies, as well as litigation committees, hospital meetings, and grand round presentations.
Publications
Dr. Grossman has authored and co-authored articles for medical journals, such as JAMA Dermatology, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Journal of Burn Care & Research, and Lasers in Surgery and Medicine. He has also contributed to text books on aesthetic breast surgery, forearm fascial flap surgery, and other topics.
Honors
Dr. Grossman has been the recipient of the 2014 Safe Passage Courageous Man Award and the 2009 Bayat Foundation Awards for Humanitarian and Leadership Engagement.
Affiliations
• American College of Surgeons
• Los Angeles County Medical Association
• California Medical Association
• Los Angeles Society of Plastic Surgeons
• American Burn Association
• American Society of Plastic Surgeons
• California Society of Plastic Surgeons
• Association for Advanced Wound Care
• American Board of Quality Assurance and Utilization Review Physicians, Inc.
• Orange County Health Care Agency: Emergency Medical Services Agency
• American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery
• National Society of Cosmetic Surgeons

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