Photo courtesy Kaiser Permanente Southern California Instagram

By Karen Pearlman

April 21, 2026 (La Mesa) -- When he was a teenager growing up in Muncie, Indiana, Charles Hamori performed his first successful medical diagnosis -- on himself.

Hamori was 14 when he correctly identified his own appendicitis, and it was at that moment (or soon thereafter) a doctor was born.

"With my first diagnosis of appendicitis, my mom ignored it and my sister cried wolf," Hamori said, laughing. "But what I remember most about that is that many times, most times, your patients are going to tell you what they have, what's wrong, if you take the time to listen. That (appendicitis incident) influenced how I listen to my patients today."

With nearly 30 years at Kaiser Permanente as a physician and surgeon under his medical belt, Dr. Charles J. Hamori, a Mount Helix resident, has reached one of the true pinnacles of American medical leadership.