Message from Newly Appointed CEO at Palmdale Regional Medical Center
Newly Appointed CEO Nana Deeb introduces herself to the Palmdale Regional Medical Center community, discusses new service lines and partnerships that have been added, the type of community she hopes to build, and more.
Featured Speaker:
Nana most recently served as Chief Executive Officer at AHMC, San Gabriel Valley Medical where she provided strategic, operation, and financial oversight of a 273-bed acute care hospital serving the San Gabriel Valley. Prior to this position, Nana served as the Senior Vice President of Operations at the Antelope Valley District Hospital. During her tenure, she was accountable for the operational and strategic planning, service line development and day-to-day operations of the facilities for this 420-bed tertiary level medical center.
Nana received her Master of Business Administration, Healthcare Administration from Purdue University, and her Bachelor of Science degree in Health Sciences from Purdue University.
Nana Deeb
Nana Deeb was appointed to the position of Chief Executive Officer for Palmdale Regional Medical Center (PRMC), effective August 8, 2022.Nana most recently served as Chief Executive Officer at AHMC, San Gabriel Valley Medical where she provided strategic, operation, and financial oversight of a 273-bed acute care hospital serving the San Gabriel Valley. Prior to this position, Nana served as the Senior Vice President of Operations at the Antelope Valley District Hospital. During her tenure, she was accountable for the operational and strategic planning, service line development and day-to-day operations of the facilities for this 420-bed tertiary level medical center.
Nana received her Master of Business Administration, Healthcare Administration from Purdue University, and her Bachelor of Science degree in Health Sciences from Purdue University.
Transcription:
Message from Newly Appointed CEO at Palmdale Regional Medical Center
Intro: Progressive, respectful, mentoring, compassionate. These are the values of Palmdale Regional Medical Center. And now, we proudly present Palmdale Regional Radio.
Caitlin Whyte: This is Palmdale Regional Radio, and I'm your host, Caitlin Whyte. Today, we are sitting down with the newly appointed CEO at Palmdale Regional Medical Center, Nana Deeb.
Well, first off, thank you so much for joining us today on the show. To start us off, can you tell us a bit about yourself and your experience in healthcare.
Nana Deeb: So I would say I'm a healthcare transformational leader that's been in executive healthcare for 20 years or a little over. Mostly, my focus has been in operations and I've done a lot of strategy work over the years as well. I worked for both profit and nonprofit, and I also have worked in several countries actually. I'm Canadian originally, so I was able to work in the socialized medicine realm as well. That was very interesting, and I've done some international consulting over the years.
Caitlin Whyte: Well, now that you are in this newly appointed role, tell us about your goal and vision for culture building with both the medical staff and the clinical and non-clinical team members at Palmdale Regional.
Nana Deeb: I've been in Lancaster, Palmdale area before. I worked at Antelope Valley with the CEO over there, Edward Mirzabegian. So I've always had the lens of the competitors, which is very beneficial under the circumstances. And joining UHS, I was very excited because, as a corporate environment, we have support, financial and otherwise, and expertise to help us assist with the community.
Our mission is to serve this incredible community that extends anywhere from 40 to 60 miles in radius, and we serve over a half a million in population. Diversity is a bit challenging at times because there's only two hospitals that serve this incredible land management, as I call it. So you are looking at ensuring that you're culturally sensitive. You are looking to make sure that you are attending to the diversity of the community and its needs. That puts us in a very good position with Antelope Valley to work together to serve the community. Historically, there has not been synergy between the two hospitals. But the fact that I worked over there for a little bit, it's allowed me to see what they can provide and what we can provide and extend out to ensure that our community is not having to leave the area to get higher acuity care, that we can do everything ourselves.
For example, we have just started building a cardiothoracic program here, and we're building on additional vascular support. One of the key elements that has been brought to my attention recently is the need for certain services that are unique to the environment. According to one of our key doctors in rehab, that our percentage of limb preservation is desperately needed in this community. We have a higher ratio than the average LA County ZIP codes. And so we made a decision to bring in a podiatry specialist, vascular specialty, wound care specialty, and bring them all together. And we are finalizing right now the Limb Preservation Program to extend as part of our rehab and wound care program that already exists. So we're looking at different portions of the community and what we need to further support these unique services that you don't have to go to Cedars or UCLA, you can get it right here within your community and be supported by your own community.
Caitlin Whyte: Well, that kind of leads me into my next question. With all of these new service lines and partnerships that have been recently added, I'd love to focus on the Birthplace that opened about a year ago, soon to be followed by adding a NICU to the hospital services. Can you tell us more about these two services and what they mean to the Antelope Valley community?
Nana Deeb: Well, as you all are aware, that we do have quite a robust service in OB and NICU within the Antelope Valley, but we don't have enough to support the community in its comprehensiveness. So, we decided to open up an OB, we call it the Birthplace, and brought in experts that are here 24/7 and ensure that we are supporting the community all the time, every time. Our OB specialists are on-site 24/7, and they are here to ensure that if a patient hits our doors, that they will get optimal service. In addition to that, we have our community obstetrical and neonatologists, and they are continuing to support and be supported by having labor's program here. And now, we are extending out to putting the NICU, which is pretty well physically ready, and we're just finalizing our staffing to proceed with opening it up before the end of the year.
Caitlin Whyte: Wonderful. Well, I also understand that there's a partnership with City of Hope taking place, that will bring more oncological services to the hospital campus. What can you share about this new affiliation?
Nana Deeb: It is a journey with City of Hope. We initially started with looking at different surgical support that's needed within the community. We have an incredible disease index with urological needs within the community, and we were able to partner with several City of Hope Doctors and they are moving into our building next door and starting their own clinic next to the hospital, and we will be ensuring that they are serving the community optimally. We also have a colorectal doctor that is also working under the umbrella of City of Hope. We are also adding general surgery as well.
The objective is to begin building a comprehensive cancer center with City of Hope partnership. We feel instead of trying to duplicate what is excellent under City of Hope, why not have them lead us through with their expertise and their professional support to better serve this community and extend out to Palmdale.
Caitlin Whyte: Well, as we wrap up here, what type of other community partnerships and relationships are you looking to build now?
Nana Deeb: Well, we always believe that the top payers and the different community members are very important. High Desert is one of our big partners here, and we are working toward a stronger partnership to ensuring that we are serving their lives optimally. Also, we are working very diligently with Kaiser to ensure that we are also serving them appropriately and we're partnering to ensure that the community members are being served. Our affiliation with also the Air Force and looking at different partnerships to see as they change their design on serving that community with their clinics. We were hoping that we would be able to serve any voids that they may have to ensure that also their community is well-served and well-represented.
In regards to the community, we are looking to partner with churches and partner with the different organizations, for the lack of better words, and ensure that we find a way to, if they need education on cancer prevention or if they need healthy living education, we are certainly open to doing that. We're going to the air shows to have booths to offer the community additional information while they're enjoying the great show, that they have also access to information to ensure that we're all addressing healthy living on a daily basis.
Caitlin Whyte: Well, that concludes another episode of Palmdale Regional Radio with Palmdale Regional Medical Center. Thank you so much for joining us today, Nana.
For more information, you can always visit palmdaleregional.com. And please remember to subscribe, rate, and review this podcast and all of the other Palmdale Regional Medical Center podcasts. Make sure to please also share on your social media and be sure to check out all of the other interesting podcasts in our library. For more health tips and updates, follow us on your social channels. I'm Caitlin Whyte. Be well.
Physicians are independent practitioners who are not employees or agents of Palmdale Regional Medical Center. The hospital shall not be liable for actions or treatments provided by physicians.
Message from Newly Appointed CEO at Palmdale Regional Medical Center
Intro: Progressive, respectful, mentoring, compassionate. These are the values of Palmdale Regional Medical Center. And now, we proudly present Palmdale Regional Radio.
Caitlin Whyte: This is Palmdale Regional Radio, and I'm your host, Caitlin Whyte. Today, we are sitting down with the newly appointed CEO at Palmdale Regional Medical Center, Nana Deeb.
Well, first off, thank you so much for joining us today on the show. To start us off, can you tell us a bit about yourself and your experience in healthcare.
Nana Deeb: So I would say I'm a healthcare transformational leader that's been in executive healthcare for 20 years or a little over. Mostly, my focus has been in operations and I've done a lot of strategy work over the years as well. I worked for both profit and nonprofit, and I also have worked in several countries actually. I'm Canadian originally, so I was able to work in the socialized medicine realm as well. That was very interesting, and I've done some international consulting over the years.
Caitlin Whyte: Well, now that you are in this newly appointed role, tell us about your goal and vision for culture building with both the medical staff and the clinical and non-clinical team members at Palmdale Regional.
Nana Deeb: I've been in Lancaster, Palmdale area before. I worked at Antelope Valley with the CEO over there, Edward Mirzabegian. So I've always had the lens of the competitors, which is very beneficial under the circumstances. And joining UHS, I was very excited because, as a corporate environment, we have support, financial and otherwise, and expertise to help us assist with the community.
Our mission is to serve this incredible community that extends anywhere from 40 to 60 miles in radius, and we serve over a half a million in population. Diversity is a bit challenging at times because there's only two hospitals that serve this incredible land management, as I call it. So you are looking at ensuring that you're culturally sensitive. You are looking to make sure that you are attending to the diversity of the community and its needs. That puts us in a very good position with Antelope Valley to work together to serve the community. Historically, there has not been synergy between the two hospitals. But the fact that I worked over there for a little bit, it's allowed me to see what they can provide and what we can provide and extend out to ensure that our community is not having to leave the area to get higher acuity care, that we can do everything ourselves.
For example, we have just started building a cardiothoracic program here, and we're building on additional vascular support. One of the key elements that has been brought to my attention recently is the need for certain services that are unique to the environment. According to one of our key doctors in rehab, that our percentage of limb preservation is desperately needed in this community. We have a higher ratio than the average LA County ZIP codes. And so we made a decision to bring in a podiatry specialist, vascular specialty, wound care specialty, and bring them all together. And we are finalizing right now the Limb Preservation Program to extend as part of our rehab and wound care program that already exists. So we're looking at different portions of the community and what we need to further support these unique services that you don't have to go to Cedars or UCLA, you can get it right here within your community and be supported by your own community.
Caitlin Whyte: Well, that kind of leads me into my next question. With all of these new service lines and partnerships that have been recently added, I'd love to focus on the Birthplace that opened about a year ago, soon to be followed by adding a NICU to the hospital services. Can you tell us more about these two services and what they mean to the Antelope Valley community?
Nana Deeb: Well, as you all are aware, that we do have quite a robust service in OB and NICU within the Antelope Valley, but we don't have enough to support the community in its comprehensiveness. So, we decided to open up an OB, we call it the Birthplace, and brought in experts that are here 24/7 and ensure that we are supporting the community all the time, every time. Our OB specialists are on-site 24/7, and they are here to ensure that if a patient hits our doors, that they will get optimal service. In addition to that, we have our community obstetrical and neonatologists, and they are continuing to support and be supported by having labor's program here. And now, we are extending out to putting the NICU, which is pretty well physically ready, and we're just finalizing our staffing to proceed with opening it up before the end of the year.
Caitlin Whyte: Wonderful. Well, I also understand that there's a partnership with City of Hope taking place, that will bring more oncological services to the hospital campus. What can you share about this new affiliation?
Nana Deeb: It is a journey with City of Hope. We initially started with looking at different surgical support that's needed within the community. We have an incredible disease index with urological needs within the community, and we were able to partner with several City of Hope Doctors and they are moving into our building next door and starting their own clinic next to the hospital, and we will be ensuring that they are serving the community optimally. We also have a colorectal doctor that is also working under the umbrella of City of Hope. We are also adding general surgery as well.
The objective is to begin building a comprehensive cancer center with City of Hope partnership. We feel instead of trying to duplicate what is excellent under City of Hope, why not have them lead us through with their expertise and their professional support to better serve this community and extend out to Palmdale.
Caitlin Whyte: Well, as we wrap up here, what type of other community partnerships and relationships are you looking to build now?
Nana Deeb: Well, we always believe that the top payers and the different community members are very important. High Desert is one of our big partners here, and we are working toward a stronger partnership to ensuring that we are serving their lives optimally. Also, we are working very diligently with Kaiser to ensure that we are also serving them appropriately and we're partnering to ensure that the community members are being served. Our affiliation with also the Air Force and looking at different partnerships to see as they change their design on serving that community with their clinics. We were hoping that we would be able to serve any voids that they may have to ensure that also their community is well-served and well-represented.
In regards to the community, we are looking to partner with churches and partner with the different organizations, for the lack of better words, and ensure that we find a way to, if they need education on cancer prevention or if they need healthy living education, we are certainly open to doing that. We're going to the air shows to have booths to offer the community additional information while they're enjoying the great show, that they have also access to information to ensure that we're all addressing healthy living on a daily basis.
Caitlin Whyte: Well, that concludes another episode of Palmdale Regional Radio with Palmdale Regional Medical Center. Thank you so much for joining us today, Nana.
For more information, you can always visit palmdaleregional.com. And please remember to subscribe, rate, and review this podcast and all of the other Palmdale Regional Medical Center podcasts. Make sure to please also share on your social media and be sure to check out all of the other interesting podcasts in our library. For more health tips and updates, follow us on your social channels. I'm Caitlin Whyte. Be well.
Physicians are independent practitioners who are not employees or agents of Palmdale Regional Medical Center. The hospital shall not be liable for actions or treatments provided by physicians.