“The walls keep coming down,” says Venus Angel, supervisor of Clinical Laboratory Services (CLS) at MLKCH. Gesturing around at the lab space where she and colleagues test everything from blood to spinal fluid, DNA to urine, she means this literally.
Venus was first hired at MLKCH 10 years ago as a bench lab scientist. The hospital was only months old, the Emergency Department had not yet opened its doors, and patients arrived in a slow trickle. “We started with just a small room for the lab,” she says. “Now, we’ve broken down the walls three or four times to make more space. And I think we’re going to keep going.”
It's been a remarkable period of growth not only for the health system, but for Venus herself. In 2008, she followed her then-husband from the Philippines, where she’d grown up, to Oahu, putting aside her dream of becoming a doctor in the process. Though she became certified as a clinical lab scientist in Hawaii, Venus felt adrift, and the islands started to feel stifling. In 2014, she moved to Los Angeles by herself with just $500 in her bank account. She crashed on a friend’s couch as she struggled to build a new life for herself.
Now, alongside MLKCH, Venus is celebrating 10 years of working in South LA. She’s risen from CLS tech, to lead, and now supervisor. Her team is an essential resource to help doctors make diagnoses. In a typical day, that can go from testing for high cholesterol, to confirming leukemia results, to preparing blood for transfusions. She feels the responsibility of supervising so many essential services for patients, but she takes great pride in her work too.
Venus has shown her gratitude for all the opportunities MLKCH has given her the same way she has throughout her life: by giving back to her community. She remembers how gifts, both given and received from her community, changed her life. An aunt helped support her while she finished her CLS degree. In turn, Venus supported several nephews and nieces as they finished college in the Philippines, ensuring that they would have more job opportunities in their futures.
Remembering arriving in Los Angeles with nothing, she says, “The feeling is very depressing. Living paycheck to paycheck, I remember what that’s like.” Now that she has a little extra, she gives back to the South LA community through MLKCH Gives each year. “I feel like it’s part of my legacy to uplift those in need. And it’s the people around me who continue to inspire me to do so.”
Thinking about the past 10 years, and looking forward to the next 10, Venus says, laughing, “I see this place like my baby!” Like with any baby, Venus hopes for nothing more than to watch the health system and community grow and thrive.
Here is your opportunity to give back! Join Venus in being a part of MLKCH Gives.