Dr. Joel Schlessinger

Dr. Joel Schlessinger and a few of his staff members attended a meeting last week in Los Angeles where they spotted several celebrities. The staff traveled to Los Angeles to learn about a new clinical research trial when they happened to run into several celebrities at the Beverly Hills Hilton.

Halle Berry and Tom Hanks were at the hotel for an event surrounding the release of their newest movie, Cloud Atlas.

Other celebrities that were at the hotel at the same time as Dr. Joel Schlessinger and staff were Ben Whinshaw, Susan Sarandon, Hugh Grant, Cedric the Entertainer and Kevin Connolly.

The Beverly Hills Hilton was also the hotel where famed singer and actress Whitney Houston passed away last February.  According to Dr. Schlessinger, the room she was found in, number 435, is no longer available for rent and has the room number taken down.

Dr. Joel Schlessinger and his family are large supporters of cinematic arts – learn more about their involvement in Omaha’s local independent film theater, Film Streams, here.

See more photos of Tom Hanks and Susan Sarandon at the Beverly Hills Hilton on Dr. Joel Schlessinger’s Flickr photostream.

Have you ever had a celebrity sighting? Tell us about it in the comments.

Spotlight on: Dr. Joel Schlessinger and his family on relief missions to Haiti

In January 2010, the country of Haiti was hit hard after an earthquake. I’d been wanting to travel to Haiti to try to help the people there, but I hadn’t been able to fit it in my schedule. Then, when the earthquake hit, the need was so urgent that I made time – and so did my wife Nancy and son Daniel.

My family traveled to Milot, to the Hôpital Sacré Coeur, which was a Catholic hospital that suffered relatively less damage than hospitals in Port-au-Prince.

This hospital normally had 60 beds, but now they needed 465 – so people were housed in tents, while classrooms became hospital rooms. This hospital only employed 10 doctors and nurses but, fortunately, anywhere from 30 to 90 volunteers showed up each day.

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