NURSING Magazine: Health Care Hero
By Ivy Burruto
Monday, February 22, 2021
Jose Perpignan ’16N waited in front of his computer for an interview to begin one October morning, completely unaware he was moments away from winning a life-changing amount of money.
On live TV.
The popular morning show “Live with Kelly and Ryan” was holding a “Healthcare Hero $100K Giveaway” contest in collaboration with SoFi, a digital finance company, to recognize health care professionals for their work on the front lines during the pandemic. Perpignan knew his friend, Erika Hunt, had nominated him for the prize, but he thought producers were reaching out to clarify some of the information submitted about him.
Then the show’s executive producer, Michael Gelman, got on the line.
“Jose is that you? Can you hear me? Can you see me?” said Gelman, feigning a poor connection over Zoom.
“Yeah, I can hear you,” replied Jose.
“I’m having a little bit of a bad connection. Hold on for one second. Let me try to fix it.”