Los Angeles Jewish Health rehabilitation patient Thomas Flynn has led a life full of success and accomplishment. But his most recent achievement may well be his greatest yet: surviving and thriving nearly one year after a high-stakes heart transplant.

Tom’s health had been on a steady downward trajectory as doctors tried everything possible to address his ventricular tachycardia, a heart rhythm disorder that disrupted the electrical signals necessary for smooth cardiac functioning. After years of treatment and despite utilizing the latest in state-of-the-art medical advances (including surgical ablations and the placement of an implantable cardioverter defibrillator), doctors told him he had reached the end of the road.

“I was basically out of options except for a transplant, and at 73 I was older than usual for that kind of procedure,” Tom says. “But I knew I wouldn’t be able to survive long term without it—I had been in the hospital 266 out of 365 days that year, which gives you an indication of how dire my circumstances were.”

But Tom was otherwise healthy, without any comorbidities, and his doctors at Cedars-Sinai put him on the transplant list. Their decision saved his life.

“It was a long shot, but they took a chance on me. I was the oldest person at Cedars-Sinai to get a transplant last year, and through what feels like a series of miracles, here I am today having turned 74,” Tom says.

Those miracles include his medical team at Cedars-Sinai, a donor heart that matched his profile (“I think of that person every single day”), and the rehabilitation care he is receiving at LAJH.

“I’ve been in JEK [the Joyce Eisenberg-Keefer Medical Center] for the past six months, and when I first got here, I was hooked up to so many machines that I couldn’t even leave my room for three months,” Tom recalls. “But the team at LAJH is amazing, from the doctors to the senior nursing staff, all the way to the certified nursing assistants. Now, I’m up and walking around, doing things I never thought I’d have the chance to do again!”

Besides receiving rigorous occupational and physical therapy, Tom is an active member of the resident community.

“The therapeutic activities here are incredible. The staff does so much to make sure our neural networks are firing and cognitive synapses are working—hosting discussion groups and learning activities that have residents reaching deep. It’s so gratifying,” he says.

The intellectual stimulation has been critically important to Tom, who spent his career in both government and industry working on big ideas to strengthen the fabric of American society.

After graduating from Columbia University and Santa Clara University School of Law, he joined the administration of Governor Jerry Brown in Sacramento, where he worked to open California up to international investment and supported the development of Silicon Valley. From there, he pivoted to the private sector, helping bring the first generation of electricity-generating windmills to Palm Springs and facilitating the acquisition of agricultural technology from Israel. Tom’s multifaceted career also included stints as chief executive officer of one of the nation’s premier public opinion and social research firms—where he managed Times/CNN polling for the 1992 and 1996 presidential election cycles—and time as a government consultant collaborating on impactful studies for the Department of Defense and other agencies.

He and his wife, Cari Beauchamp, a prominent writer and journalist, split their time between Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and New York, making their marks professionally while also raising their two sons, Jake and Teo. Cari passed away from cancer in 2023.

At LAJH, in addition to recovering his physical stamina and sharpening his mental acuity, Tom has fostered new friendships with other JEK residents.

“People are so smart and have such fascinating life stories. All of us are here because of medical infirmities, but we still have so much to offer in terms of our various skills and talents,” he says. “The entire LAJH community keeps me active and stimulated, and I’m so grateful every single day.”