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Uploaded: Friday, March 6, 2009, 2:24 PM
Updated: Monday, March 9, 2009, 8:51 AM

Robin Williams to have heart surgery at Stanford
Aortic valve needs to be replaced, representative says

Posted by TwoSides, a resident of the South of Midtown neighborhood, on Mar 6, 2009 at 2:26 pm

My favorite commedian! Good luck Robin!

Posted by danwalter, a resident of the Professorville neighborhood, on Mar 7, 2009 at 5:45 am

Good thing they didn't take him to Johns Hopkins: Web Link

Posted by Allen, a resident of another community, on Mar 9, 2009 at 3:18 pm

"numerous news outlets are reporting"? Name one? I read the statement from Williams' publicist and no hospital is mentioned. So I used Google news to look up the stories on this. None say that Williams will be entering Stanford Hospital. A few of them, such as People magazine, cite literature from Stanford on the heart procedure, but I haven't seen any news reports saying he is going to receive surgery at Stanford.

Posted by Keep-It-Mum, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Mar 9, 2009 at 3:43 pm

It may be shaky reporting but it also may be that they want to keep it mum since he is a celebrity. The public doesn't have the right to know where people are having medical procedures.

My husband worked for a famous medical institution and major politicians and famous people would visit and it was often not publicized or publicized after the fact. My husband would hear the buzz but it was not necessarily in the media. Sometimes they would temporarily change the hallways so that people could not find the patient's room.

Posted by chris, a resident of the Evergreen Park neighborhood, on Mar 9, 2009 at 5:38 pm

Keep-it-Mum is missing Allen's point ... of course patients deserve to have privacy ... All that Allen is asking is the origin of the Weekly's information since there aren't "numerous" reports saying Williams is entering Stanford Hospital, and his publicist isn't saying that either. If the Weekly is basing its story on confidential sources, then it should say that clearly.

Posted by Don Kazak, Palo Alto Weekly columnist, on Mar 10, 2009 at 1:43 pm
Don Kazak is a member (registered user) of Palo Alto Online

An initial report indicated Stanford, but the hospital does not release patient names and a spokesman for Williams is not naming the hospital, so it might not be at Stanford.

Posted by YSK, a resident of the Old Palo Alto neighborhood, on Mar 23, 2009 at 11:02 am

So how does a Bay Area guy like Robin Williams wind up at the Cleveland Heart Clinic for heart surgery instead of Stanford? Dana Carvey didn't go to Stanford for his surgery either. I thought Stanford had the best heart program.

What does Stanford Heart Program lack that the others have?

And by the way, I too googled and a few other outlets originally reported the choice was Stanford.

Posted by RM, a resident of Stanford, on Mar 25, 2009 at 9:29 am

So what was the Weekly's source of this incorrect information? And where's the correction?