Leaders in the University of Arizona Division of Infectious Diseases wish to express their sadness at the death of Hooshang Nematollahi, MSN, FNP-C, MBA, 62, who passed away Friday, Aug. 25, 2017, after a long battle with thyroid cancer.
His memorial services were held at East Lawn Palms Mortuary in Tucson on Monday, Aug. 28.
“He was an inspiration to all of us,” said Elizabeth Connick, MD, division chief. “We will miss him very much.”
One of seven siblings, Hooshang was born Nov. 15, 1954, in Abadan, Iran, a city in southwest Iran near Basra, Iraq. He worked for a Greek dock building company and Iranian Airlines before being accepted in 1978 to attend the University of Houston, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in construction management. He followed that up with an MBA from Adelphi University in Garden City, N.Y.
Then, Hooshang shifted gears, obtaining his bachelor’s degree in nursing (BSN) in 1995 from the UA College of Nursing, and later working as an oncology nurse at what were then UMC and Kino hospitals—now, the Banner – University Medical Center Tucson and South hospitals. He then became the house supervisor at Kino Hospital while running the operating rooms at UMC.
In 2008, he was named a winner of a Fabulous Fifty Award from the Tucson Nurses Week Foundation.
In 2012, Hooshang earned his master’s degree in nursing and became a certified family nurse practitioner, courtesy of training at the University of Phoenix—and served in that role in the abdominal organ transplant surgery department at the then UA Medical Center – University Campus, managing many complicated patients.
In 2013, he was diagnosed with anaplastic thyroid cancer. In 2014, he joined the Division of Infectious Diseases, where he provided HIV primary care and refugee health screenings in the UA Refugee Preventive Health Screening Program. The HIV and screening programs are run by the division through federal grants from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
“Hooshang was an exemplary human being with a natural gift of kindness, generosity, and humility,” noted Tirdad Zangeneh, DO, a Banner infectious diseases specialist, associate professor in the UA Division of Infectious Diseases and associate director of the UA Internal Medicine Residency Program – Tucson Campus.
“He had an impeccable work ethic, meticulous manner in which he practiced medicine, and above all a compassionate approach to patient care. Throughout his illness he continued to serve his patients and worked to the very last week before passing away. He was a genuine and exceptional human being and will be missed greatly. “
He is survived by his wife, Shahla, and two children, Saman and Negin.