Anyone who has ever visited this

hospital is sure to have admired one of

the many beautiful flower paintings

adorning the walls. Besides their

tremendous beauty, what is especially

remarkable about them is that they

were all created by the same artist,

local surgeon Abdul Wahhab, MD.

The surgeon is a natural artist. As a

child, he always enjoyed art and spent

his free time drawing and doodling. His talent became well-known in his hometown where he was often asked to draw images for school projects or portraits for special occasions. While in medical school and during his residency, he penned several illustrations for medical journals.

At the urging of his wife, Zarina, Dr. Wahhab began formal training to learn proper painting techniques in 1986. He signed up for several adult education classes and workshops where he honed his artistic acumen. Since that time, Dr. Wahhab has painted several hundred oil paintings, mostly of flowers. This is not surprising since his undergraduate education was in botany.

In 2005, Dr. Wahhab embarked on the most ambitious painting project of his career – to paint 100 original oil paintings to be auctioned for the benefit of this hospital. He completed this challenge – plus seven more – in just seven months. In April 2006, all 107 of his paintings were sold at an art gala and the funds raised were donated to the hospital for the purposes of lobby renovations. As a way to thank Dr. Wahhab for his tremendous work and to honor his years of service to the hospital, the newly renovated lobby was renamed the Adbul Wahhab, MD Lobby.

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