Heritage Snapshot: Part 113

When Ruthita J. Fike, MA, joined the Medical Center’s administrative team as Executive Officer for Hospital Affairs in 2004, she instituted a new strategic planning process which addressed changing utilization issues. Population in the institution’s four-county service area was outgrowing the Medical Center’s infrastructure. Its institutions and clinics were at full capacity. One of the key components of this regional outreach initiative was a hub-and-spoke model, with the Medical Center and its main campus the hub, and various regional satellite facilities the spokes. The intent was not only to locate lower acuity services closer to the communities where people live, but also to prioritize patients coming to Loma Linda with the most appropriate level of tertiary-care services being provided on the academic campus. Through extensive and strategic analysis of different service areas within the region, under the guidance of the consulting firm John Abendshien and Associates, administration identified two locations that were not only medically underserved, but also during the previous 10 years had some of the fastest-growing populations in the country: Beaumont-Banning in the San Gorgonio Pass, and the Murrieta-Temecula valley, 35 to 40 miles south of Loma Linda, halfway to San Diego. About 50 percent of their populations were leaving the local areas for medical services. Fortuitously, in 1966 Loma Linda University acquired the 450-acre Stewart Ranch through a bequest that was perfectly located for ambulatory services in the Beaumont-Banning area. In addition to outpatient offices proliferating around the local community, in 2006, LLUMC and three other local healthcare organizations announced plans to build a new outpatient facility in nearby Beaumont. The entities included Redlands Community Hospital, Beaver Medical Group, and the Faculty Practice Plan of the Loma Linda University School of Medicine. According to Mrs. Fike, the new facility would make specialized services and physicians more accessible and convenient for people who live in surrounding communities. The Highland Springs Medical Plaza now serves the residents of Beaumont, Banning, Cherry Valley, Cabazon, Calimesa, Yucaipa, and Oak Glen. Its Cancer Center includes a linear accelerator, its own drawing rooms for laboratory tests, and two compounding rooms where pharmacists can compound chemotherapy drugs and other preparations. Loma Linda University Medical Center—Murrieta, a five-story, $280.8 million, 265,000-square-foot, 106-bed hospital, opened on April 15, 2011. It increased to 1,076 the total bed capacity of the six hospitals under the jurisdiction of Loma Linda University Health. It now serves the fast-growing region encompassing the seven cities of Murrieta, Temecula, Wildomar, Lake Elsinore, Sun City, Perris, Menifee, and surrounding communities. Loma Linda University Medical Center and Physicians Group of Murrieta, LLC, a consortium of physicians from southwest Riverside County, developed the facility on a 44-acre campus along Interstate 215, at the northeast corner of Antelope and Baxter Roads, in Murrieta, 38 miles from Loma Linda. The project initially started in a conversation between Murrieta Drs. Jay Ferns and John Piconi, when one of them suggested that they build their own hospital. A core group of local physicians raised $12.5 million to begin the project and then gathered another $5 million from fifty-one generous families and community investors. In 2005 the Medical Center's board of trustees had already concluded that while the Murrieta-Temecula valley was an attractive potential service area, it could not invest in a hospital facility without having local-physician support. In December of 2005, Medical Center Administration learned that the group of local physicians in the area was planning to build their own hospital, and in January of 2006 contacted Dr. Piconi, a retired urologist and leader of the group, to explore the possibilities of a joint venture. The doctor had practiced in the area for 30 years, and was known as an honest man of great passion, integrity, and strong convictions that a third hospital was needed in that underserved area. Loma Linda University Medical Center had never partnered with a group of community physicians to build a new hospital before, but, because the timing was perfect and the needs great, LLUMC administrators agreed. Participants discussed possible organizational structures that would be mutually satisfying for both groups; that would meet the needs of their respective values and philosophies. The Murrieta physicians had already acquired a 26-acre parcel of ground within the city limits. In so doing, they had risked their own personal savings to make a dream come true. They also had retained a development partner headquartered in Tennessee that was initially engaged to help provide management. Multiple meetings were held over the next year and a half with discussions including legal counsel. The Medical Center's board of trustees discussed business strategies, service opportunities, and risks. One of the advantages was the fact that about 20 to 25 percent of the Murrieta group’s 70 physicians were graduates of Loma Linda University School of Medicine or former resident physicians of Loma Linda University Medical Center, who already had an understanding and appreciation for Loma Linda. Another benefit was the fact that LLUMC enjoys an excellent reputation in the area, a feeling that pervades the community. The physician-investors also appreciated the fact that they would be able to affiliate with a university medical center with an impeccable reputation.