Desert Valley Hospital Celebrates 25 Years of Service

Desert Valley Hospital has been there for me and my loved ones countless times throughout the past 25 years and we always received excellent care, not only from Desert Valley’s dedicated staff and team but also from the most sincere, helpful volunteers I have ever had the pleasure to be assisted by in my most crucial times of need,” said Rebecca Tennison, District Representative for Senator Scott Wilk “My most grateful experience at Desert Valley Hospital that will remain forever in my heart was when they saved, mended, and healed my mother from a massive heart attack, literally during the grand opening ceremony of the hospital’s new Heart Center in 2012.”

For the more than 400,000 people who live or work in Victor Valley, Desert Valley Hospital, a member of Prime Healthcare, has become a trusted resource for expert medical care over the last 25 years. A place where babies are born and hearts are healed. A place of comfort that every member of the community can count on in an emergency.

This is the legacy that Desert Valley Hospital is celebrating on Friday, September 6 with its “25 years of award winning care” silver anniversary event. “Our hospital was founded by a respected member of our community, Dr. Prem Reddy, and it is staffed each day with many people who are proud to call Victor Valley home,” said Fred Hunter, CEO of Desert Valley Hospital/Desert Valley Medical Group. “It is a privilege to serve this strong, vibrant community, and our silver anniversary event is a celebration of the people of our community, as well as of our hospital’s history and future.” The event will include presentations, a visual timeline, photo gallery, and a special time capsule presentation that will give guests the opportunity to share their best memory of Desert Valley Hospital over the past 25 years.

“This 25th anniversary milestone speaks volumes to our commitment to quality care and our dedication to our community,” said Dr. Prem Reddy, MD, FACC, FCCP, Founder, Chairman, President and CEO of Prime Healthcare. “I am appreciative and proud of the Desert Valley Hospital staff and the legacy we have formed.”

An important part of that legacy is the work performed outside of the hospital in partnership with others, such as a program that Desert Valley Hospital funds at Victor Valley College to provide tuition and books for 16 nursing students each semester, benefitting 64 students annually who are offered a nursing career upon graduation. Desert Valley Hospital also offers annual scholarships through the Dr. Prem Reddy Family Foundation to residents from the High Desert pursuing a career in healthcare. A dedicated supporter of causes that impact the community, Desert Valley Hospital also partners with local organizations such as A Better Way, American Cancer Society, High Desert Phoenix Foundation, Today’s Woman Foundation, Victor Elementary Education Foundation and the local Chamber of Commerce.

What is little known about Desert Valley Hospital is its brush with possible closure and its place in the history of one of the top health systems in the nation. Built in 1994 by Dr. Prem Reddy, a double-board certified cardiologist, Desert Valley Hospital was an 83-bed acute care hospital that, under the guidance of its physician-leaders, garnered clinical awards and earned recognition in the medical community. So much so that it gained the attention of investors and was sold by Dr. Reddy. He believed he was leaving the hospital in the hands of an organization with the experience to continue his work; however, under new management, the hospital struggled and faced imminent closure.

In 2001, Dr. Reddy once again stepped in. In so doing, he founded Prime Healthcare Services and purchased the then-failing Desert Valley Hospital. Under the management of Prime Healthcare Services, Desert Valley Hospital was quickly transformed into a profitable and successful entity serving the community once again. News spread swiftly of Desert Valley Hospital’s revival and soon Dr. Reddy was approached by a second struggling hospital in nearby Chino. Prime Healthcare Services welcomed a second hospital, today’s Chino Valley Medical Center, into its management, and so began the journey of “Saving Hospitals, Saving Jobs, Saving Lives.” Prime Healthcare is now 45 hospitals strong and an admired beacon of quality.

“Dr. Reddy’s commitment to our community cannot be understated. Dr. Reddy has partnered with Victor Valley Community College in creating nursing scholarship programs that have not only benefited hundreds of students here in the valley, but also throughout Southern California and far beyond,” said Supervisor of the First District for San Bernardino County, Robert Lovingood. In 2017, Dr. Reddy and his wife Dr. Venkamma Reddy received the 2017 Bernard Osher Philanthropists of the Year award, recognizing their generous support of Victor Valley College and other Southern California community colleges.

Today, Desert Valley Hospital provides a broad range of services to the local community, including 148-beds for inpatient care, a 12-bed intensive care unit, 24-hour emergency care, urgent care, state of the art Heart Center/Cardiac Cath lab, women’s and maternity services, occupational medicine, outpatient and inpatient services, orthopedic services, pharmacy, health education and lab services.

Over 25 years, Desert Valley Hospital has received numerous awards, including:

  • 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2015 – Truven Health Analytics (now IBM Watson Health) “100 Top Hospital”
  • 2010 Becker’s Hospital Review “Best Community Hospitals” award
  • 2014 – 2016 Patient Safety Excellence Award
  • 2015 – 2017 Healthgrades Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence
  • 2012 – 2019 Nine Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade “A” awards
  • 2015 – 2017 Healthgrades America’s 250 Best award
  • 2018 – 2019 U.S. News & World Report High Performing Hospitals – Heart Failure
  • 2018 – 2019 U.S. News & World Report High Performing Hospitals – COPD

“Desert Valley Hospital is very much about a culture of family. My mom started working for Desert Valley Hospital in 1994, six months after it opened. She worked in the Med-Surg Department and many others for over 20 years! I began working for Desert Valley Hospital in August of 2000 as a nurse in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU),” said Amy Pullen, Chief Nursing Officer, Desert Valley Hospital.

“Fast forward 19 years later and I am now the CNO. My cousin, Brian, is the Emergency Preparedness Manager for our division. My sister was a social worker, my husband an Emergency Room tech, and so many more. My children were born at Desert Valley Hospital, my daughter in 2003, and she is now a student volunteer. So, when I say Desert Valley Hospital is family, it truly is a family that cares for so many other families in our region. I am grateful for the leadership at Desert Valley Hospital and the support that we provide our community,” continued Pullen.

For more information about Desert Valley Hospital, please contact Eddie Hernandez at EddieHernandez@primehealthcare.com.

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 About Prime Healthcare: Prime Healthcare is an award-winning national hospital system with 45 acute-care hospitals providing nearly 45,000 jobs in 14 states. Fifteen of the hospitals are members of the Prime Healthcare Foundation, a 501(c)3 public charity. Based in California and one of the largest hospital systems in the country, Prime Healthcare is committed to ensuring access to quality healthcare. Prime Healthcare and its hospitals have been recognized as among the “100 Top Hospitals” in the nation 42 times and among the “15 Top Health Systems” three times, and Prime is the only “10 Top Health System” west of the Mississippi. Prime Healthcare hospitals are annually recognized as “Top Performers on Key Quality Measures” by The Joint Commission. For more information, please visit www.primehealthcare.com.

The man behind the nation’s fastest-growing hospital chain

 In 2006, Paradise Valley Hospital, just 13 miles from Mexico and a world away from the luxury condos, convention hotels and craft beer bars that dot nearby downtown San Diego, faced imminent closure. The money-losing safety net hospital needed a $61 million renovation to make it earthquake-compliant.

Owner Adventist Health searched desperately for a financial savior. Only two came forward: a locally organized Paradise Preservation Group, which government officials doubted could finance the deal; and Prime Healthcare Services, a small, relatively new for-profit hospital chain owned by Dr. Prem Reddy, which offered to buy the hospital for $30 million and finance the upgrades.

During an emotional, nine-hour public hearing that drew more than 100 people, Dr. Jerome Robinson, a respected cardiologist who grew up in a Pittsburgh housing project, spoke for the community bid. He railed against a Prime takeover. “We are not-for-profit,” he said. “If we do anything with the profits that come from the sale of Paradise Valley Hospital, they need to stay in this community.”

Today, Robinson has nothing but praise for Prime and Reddy. “In order to manage and stay open, we needed to be smarter,” Robinson said. “What we’ve been able to see as a result of that: failing hospital eight years ago, not failing hospital today.”

Reddy’s Prime deployed the same controversial tactics at Paradise Valley that it has used to become the nation’s fastest-growing hospital chain, now 29 hospitals strong with deals in place for 11 more. It wrangled better rates from insurers. It added profitable services lines and implemented aggressive billing tactics.

Prime also looks inward for savings. When Prime comes in, it slashes bloated managements. It stands its ground on negotiating with unions. And it has even fought with politicians and quality raters such as Truven Health Analytics, which gives several of the chain’s hospitals high marks, but in at least one case has withdrawn its approval.

The results, the company boasts, can be seen in its financial statements. Every one of its operating facilities— almost all of which were losing money when Prime took over—are now debt-free and profitable, the company claims. In almost every takeover battle, Prime has had to overcome local opposition such as that in National City, population 60,000, home of Paradise Valley hospital. “Only one person spoke in favor—and that was me,” recalled Reddy, 66, company founder and CEO. In an interview at Prime’s headquarters in Ontario, Calif., the native of a small village in southern India wore a black suit with an American flag pin affixed to his lapel.

Reddy bristles when asked about his critics. But otherwise, he is at turns jovial and matter-of-fact, reducing his mission to two simple principles: “We want to save as many hospitals as we can. We want to expand in California and beyond.”