CBS4’s Dr. Dave Hnida is a busy practicing physician and an award-broadcasting journalist. As the Medical Editor, Dr. Dave brings a family doctor to your television, answering viewer questions and putting medical headlines and complicated issues into easy-to-understand, usable information.
He joined the CBS4 team in September of 1991 covering medicine not only for Denver viewers but also across the country for NBC and CBS News.
Hnida was educated at the University of Pennsylvania and completed his internship and residencies at Presbyterian/St. Luke’s Medical Center and Denver General Hospital.
He has been working in the Denver area as a family and emergency physician for 25 years.
Hnida is a combat-decorated Colonel in the U.S. Army Medical Corps. He has served two tours of duty in Iraq since the war began in 2003. His first tour he served as a combat surgeon with the 160th Airborne MP Battalion. His second tour took to a Combat Support Hospital as a trauma surgeon. His book about that second tour is called “Paradise General” and was published in 2010.
Hnida is also a medical officer with the National Medical Response Team for Weapons of Mass Destruction, a counter-terrorism medical group.
Hnida’s CBS4 health reports can be seen on CBS4 News. Click here to visit his blog on CBSDenver.com.
Just The Facts
• Position: Medical Editor
• Alma Mater: University of Pennsylvania
• Role model: Atticus Finch
• Most memorable interview: Saddam Hussein, April 2004
• Hidden talent: Great vacuumer
• Hobbies: Surfing, running, martial arts, napping
• Who would play you in a movie? Donald Sutherland
• Why I am a journalist: So I don’t have to get up at 2 a.m. to remove an appendix.
• Number of children: Four
• Favorite food: Little hotdogs wrapped in dough
• Dream interview: Archibald “Moonlight” Graham, M.D.
• Year hired: 1990
• Dream job: Lead actor in a Broadway musical
• Star sign: Falling
• First story: Don’t remember but Bill Stuart was throwing spitballs at me during it.
• Favorite story: A man walks into a bar …
• Hometown: 5 miles from Kathy Walsh’s, which explains a lot
• Favorite Musician: A.I. and Yimmy
• Number of siblings: 3
• First TV appearance: 1975, Penn vs. Princeton
• Number of pets: Just Bettis the dog
• Favorite sports teams: Oregon Ducks, New Mexico Lobos, Washington Huskies
• Favorite authors: Arthur Conan Doyle, Ken Follett, Harper Lee
• Favorite vacation spot: Huntington Beach, Calif.
• What one word best describes CBS4: Friends
• Least favorite household chore: Plunging toilet
• Favorite words: “You are released from active duty”
• Least favorite word: Sir
• Favorite noise: Ocean waves
• Least favorite noise: Moody’s snoring
• Favorite music: Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, Duke Ellington, Jimmy Buffet, Bach
• What’s the biggest risk you’ve taken? Jumping out of a perfectly functioning airplane
