Veronica Huerta has spent the last two years of her long career in healthcare as an Infection Preventionist for Glendale Memorial Hospital and Health Center.
As manager of the hospital's infection prevention and control program, it is Huerta's responsibility to keep patients safe when there is an uptick in illness, like during the COVID-19 pandemic.
She told KNX Hero producer Heather Jordan, "I've been here for two years, and I just love it. It's been great joining midway through the pandemic and jumping in from the lab world."
In her time away from Glendale Memorial, Huerta works to improve the lives of those in need. She helped launch Northeast Neighborhood Outreach (NENO), a nonprofit that provides shelter, clothing, food, and other necessities to the homeless communities of Los Angeles.
Huerta said, "We try to come by once a week to visit people in our neighborhood and try to connect them with services, see what the interest is for housing if they have any medical needs."
She says it all starts with a bag of food, "Because if you're consistently providing very basic needs, then you can start gaining people's trust, and that's crucial to help people transition back into some sort of stable housing."
Huerta also sits on the Glassell Park Neighborhood Council board as the Chair of the Homelessness and Housing Committee.
When she's not preventing infections at the hospital or providing compassion to L.A.'s homeless, Huerta represents her home nation of Mexico as a member of the national curling team.
It's relatively new for Huerta, but she and her team already have their eyes set on the Olympics, "Last year, we competed internationally at this tournament called the Pan Continental Curling Championship. This year we're going again, and the goal is to win that to try to get a spot at the World Curling Championships," she said, and the next step would be the Olympics.
Check out all our KNX Heroes here.
Follow KNX News 97.1 FM
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | TikTok