For 25 years, Virginia Bertelsen has called Sonoma home. After a distinguished career as a buyer for some of the country’s most iconic department stores—including Marshall Field’s, I. Magnin, and Gump’s—Virginia chose Sonoma for a quieter chapter of life centered on community, purpose, and connection.
Now 80, Virginia remains deeply engaged in the world around her. Friends describe her as adventurous, thoughtful, and endlessly curious. Over the years, she built her life around meaningful experiences, from studying French cooking in Paris to traveling abroad and immersing herself in history and culture. In retirement, she has continued that spirit through environmental advocacy and causes important to the Sonoma community.
So on a February afternoon, when she headed out for a walk with friends along Fryer Creek, it felt like any other Sonoma day. Within hours, it would become a medical emergency. “I just felt a little stomach pain and thought I’d sit for a minute,” she recalls. “But the pain got worse very quickly.” Within 20 minutes, Virginia was in the Emergency Department at Sonoma Valley Hospital.
She arrived at 1:20 p.m. with severe abdominal pain. The emergency team moved quickly managing her pain, ordering a CT scan, and identifying a life-threatening bowel obstruction caused by an internal hernia. What began as a walk had suddenly become a race against time. “I don’t remember everything because I was in so much pain,” she says, “but I do remember how calm everyone was. The young man who took me from the emergency room to get the CT scan was so reassuring—I thought, everything is going to be okay.”
Virginia emphasizes that every person she encountered made an impression. “The emergency team, the imaging staff, the nurses—each person was calm, kind, and completely present. You could feel that they cared.” As her condition worsened, the need for surgery became immediate. Because of the urgency, Sonoma Valley Hospital mobilized an operating room team after hours so surgery could happen without delay. Although Virginia is a Kaiser patient and initially assumed she would be transferred, the severity of her condition required immediate intervention. Kaiser approved the surgery to move forward at Sonoma Valley Hospital.
“I was so grateful that decision was made,” she says. “There wasn’t time to wait.”
Surgeon Dr. Alexis Alexandridis met Virginia with a calm, reassuring presence. “She explained everything in a way that made me feel completely at ease. She’s so young—she could be my granddaughter—but it felt like my mother was talking to me. I wasn’t anxious—I just knew I was in the right place.”
She extends that same gratitude to the entire surgical team. “The nurses, the anesthesiologist, everyone in that room—they prepared me without overwhelming me. They told me exactly what I needed to know and made me feel safe. I’m so thankful for each of them.”
During surgery, the team discovered that her small intestine was twisted and required a more complex repair than initially hoped. The procedure was completed successfully at 6:45 p.m. Following surgery, Virginia spent the night recovering in the hospital, receiving care in the ICU and support from a multidisciplinary team. Again, it was the people who stood out. “The care didn’t stop after surgery,” she says. “The ICU team, the nurses—everyone continued that same level of compassion and attentiveness. I felt cared for every step of the way.”
Physical therapist Chris Gallo helped her begin moving again the very next day. “I told him there was no way I could move,” she says with a laugh. “But he was so calm and encouraging. He helped me realize I could—and that it was important. I’m so grateful he came back to check on me again later. That meant a lot.”
After stabilizing, Virginia was transferred the following day to Kaiser to continue her recovery. Looking back, what stands out most to her is not just how quickly everything happened—but how every individual contributed to her outcome. “I live four blocks from the hospital,” she says. “If this had happened anywhere else… I don’t even want to think about it. I feel incredibly lucky.”
She also reflects on the collaboration that made her care possible. “I really applaud both Sonoma Valley Hospital and Kaiser,” she says. “They worked together and made the right decision at the right time.”
For Virginia, the experience underscored something she hadn’t fully considered before: the critical importance of having high-quality emergency and surgical care close to home—and the people who make that care possible. “You don’t think about it until you need it,” she says. “But when you do—it’s not just the hospital. It’s every single person inside it. And I am so very grateful for all of them.”
Today, after several months of recovery, Virginia is regaining her strength and returning to daily life with a renewed sense of gratitude. “It could have been very serious,” she says. “I don’t even know the full extent—but I know it was handled exactly when and how it needed to be. And that made all the difference.”
Each year, Sonoma Valley Hospital’s Emergency Department cares for thousands of patients, responding to a wide range of urgent and life-threatening conditions. With 24/7 emergency services, advanced imaging, and the ability to rapidly mobilize surgical teams—even after hours—the hospital is equipped to stabilize and treat patients when time matters most. For patients like Virginia, that capability—close to home—can make all the difference.
