CEO Corner: Issue 211

Greetings Lompoc Valley Residents:

The past nine months as Chief Executive Officer of LVMC have flown by, and I have enjoyed becoming part of the community and getting to know many Lompocians.

Like all healthcare organizations, LVMC must continuously improve; if we’re not moving forward, we’re moving backwards. That said, I am proud of the direction in which we are heading. When I receive the ever-increasing number of calls, emails and letters, or see on social media, the glowing comments about our staff and physicians, it makes it all worthwhile.

We have also been recognized by external organizations for the quality of patient care provided by LVMC. The awards the hospital has recently received include, Beta Heart Culture of Safety; Quest for Zero: Emergency Department Initiative and Quest for Zero: Excellence in Obstetrics Tier II. Not to be outdone, our Lompoc Health -- Third Street Center was awarded the Top Performing Family Practice in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties, by CenCal Health. In addition, our Comprehensive Care Center was the recipient of the American Health Care Association’s National Commitment to Quality Award and recognized in the 2019-2020 edition of U.S. News and World Report Best Nursing Homes in California.

We appreciate the recognition that the awards represent, but we get the most satisfaction by doing everything we can, every day, for each individual patient and family member.

It’s been about a year since LVMC acquired Sansum Clinic. Typically, in the industry, it takes approximately three years to transition ownership and have fully-efficient and effective operations. As expected, we have had some growing pains, but we are doing everything we can to dramatically shorten that time-frame.

Our greatest focus is on patient access, including call intake and wait times, appointment scheduling, authorization and prescription processing, etc. Many improvements have been made, and there are many more to come. We are well on our way to fully staffing and stabilizing our Primary Care service, while at the same time adding new specialties to serve the community, including Spine Surgery, Surgical Weight Loss, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and ENT. I know that some residents have experienced some frustration, but I am confident that if you stick with us you will be glad you did.

We greatly appreciate the support of the Lompoc Valley community, and if there is anything LVMC or I can do for you personally, please do not hesitate to ask; we would love the opportunity to help if we can.

Warm regards,

Steve Popkin, CEO