For over three decades Dr. Frank Ercoli dedicated his life to saving others. On Wednesday, the staff at Desert Regional Medical Center, the staff is mourning his sudden death. Dr. Ercoli was only two weeks from retiring.

Fellow trauma surgeon Dr. Oscar Paz-Altschul says he was more than a doctor.

“This man was a leader, he was a friend, he was a philanthropist and he was an excellent trauma surgeon, he was here to help the community and he was loved by everyone around,” says Paz-Altschul holding back tears.

Dr. Frank Ercoli, was the director and founder of the trauma center and program at Desert Regional.

Heidi Anderson, the Trauma Program manager, who worked with Ercoli from the beginning, says he was the first trauma surgeon at the hospital, “The blood, sweat and tears literally that he put into this is now the fruits that we get to enjoy and that will carry forward.”

But his influence didn’t end with this trauma center.

“He was instrumental in developing the trauma system for all of Riverside which is now partners with San Bernardino and parts of L.A., he is respected tremendously and loved on that level for what he’s contributed the trauma system at large,” says Anderson.

His colleagues say he touched countless of lives through the thousands he gave a second chance and would do anything to save a life.

“He got in a CHP helicopter and flew up the side of the mountain and rappelled down a cliff to try to retrieve somebody from an automobile accident … the patient survived and he talked to that patient every year … these aren’t patients they’re not numbers to him they’re people,” says Stan Hall, the pre hospital liaison nurse.

Dr. Ercoli led a life saving team of people through some of the most heartbreaking incidents in our valley, like the bus crash filled with Girl Scouts in 1991 that killed seven and injured 47, a 2016 crash on I-10 freeway of a bus filled with tourists headed to a casino that killed 13 and worked to save the lives of Palm Springs Police officers Jose “Gil” Vega and Lesley Zerebny, he testified in the trial.

“He’s the guy that I know struggled and had hard times with those events but during that you never would have seen it, he carried on with professionalism and leadership … he was very committed to our community so all of these were personal for him, whether he knew them or not,” says Anderson.

But he also wanted to care for the families going through trauma so he established the Hanson House Foundation, a hospitality house for the families of the critically ill.

“He wanted this to be a place for them to collect their thoughts and regroup a little bit from whatever critical incident they may be going through he is in every part of this building, he’s in the design, he’s in the mission,” says Anderson through tears.

Dr. Ercoli will live on through his legacy of service above self.

“You don’t really realize how big the giant is until you see the hole they leave behind and we are looking at somebody who’s going to leave a chasm that’s immeasurable,” says Anderson.

We love you, we’re going to miss you and we’re not going to let up,” says Hall.

Dr. Ercoli was 67-years-old.

Desert Regional Medical Center Staff and Coachella Valley Mourning Medical Pioneer