UC San Diego Health is taking over operations at El Centro Regional Medical Center (ECRMC) while the hospital’s board explores options for financial stability, and now there is a new top executive to run operations.
Even before Pablo Velez takes over as CEO of ECRMC he is reassuring Imperial Valley residents that the hospital will be there long-term.
“I’m going to do the best that I can to improve the services and the care that we provide to the Valley community,” Velez said.
Velez is taking the helm of the financially strained hospital that serves Imperial County’s nearly 180,000 residents. He officially starts the job next week and said a listening tour with the community is at the top of his list.
Velez is a former nurse who rose through the ranks at Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center to eventually become CEO there.
“This is an important step in El Centro Regional Medical Center’s path forward and we have every confidence that Pablo’s proven leadership will play a critical part in our ongoing efforts to preserve and expand care, coverage and capabilities for Imperial Valley,” said UCSD Health's CEO Patty Maysent in a news release.
UCSD Health officials estimate up to half of the residents in the Imperial Valley seek health care outside of the region — whether that is in San Diego, Tijuana or elsewhere. Velez said he wants to grow programs that serve the community's needs.
“We want them to come and receive care in their backyard,” Velez said.
In addition to ECRMC, Imperial County has one other hospital — Pioneers Memorial Healthcare District. UCSD Health’s Chief Administrative Officer Matthew Jenusaitis said he has “no doubt” the region can double the size of the health care, should they be able to bring in more patients. Jenusaitis said that process involves adding more specialty care.
“They (residents) leave the Valley to go get health care because we don’t have the right specialists here or they can get it more cost effectively somewhere else,” he said.
El Centro Regional recently closed its labor and delivery services. Those services are still available nearby at Pioneers hospital. Velez said he is going to meet with leaders from Pioneers to see how they can avoid duplicating services.
“See what are some of the things that we can work together on, some of the things we can consolidate,” Velez said. “So that we’re not duplicating the services because it becomes very expensive. It becomes expensive for them and it becomes expensive for us.”
The San Diego Union Tribune reports an update from ECRMC’s March 28 board meeting found the hospital lost $1.8 million in February. UCSD Health will temporarily run operations in El Centro for at least the next year while a long-term plan is formed to make the hospital financially viable. Leaders point to a high Medi-Cal patient population, which they said does not reimburse the full cost of a patient's care. One idea to help balance the budget is creating a new tax district that would allow Imperial County’s hospitals and clinics to share resources as a single health system.
Velez said Imperial’s two hospitals and clinics have to stay up and running and have to be sustainable. He also said ECRMC is one of the region’s largest employers.
“The hospital is an asset to this community — it’s an economic engine — we provide good paying jobs for the people of this community,” he said.
Velez said ECRMC has already invested money in a looming seismic retrofitting mandate from the state, a move that he said has them well-positioned to continue operating beyond 2030.
