El Camino Hospital Celebrates 50 Years of Doing "Whatever It Takes" to Deliver Excellent Patient Care

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Sept. 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, El Camino Hospital celebrates its 50th anniversary and a half-century of groundbreaking medicine and clinical care to benefit the health and well-being of the people in its community.  Growing from a four-story community hospital to a sophisticated, state-of-the-art, multi-service organization spanning two campuses, El Camino Hospital has evolved into a cutting-edge provider of health care services while retaining its intimate, service-oriented culture.

"As we've grown and expanded, our 'whatever it takes' philosophy and persistent commitment to delivery of excellent patient care has made El Camino Hospital a magnet for innovative and leading physicians, nurses and other caregivers," stated John Zoglin, chairman of the El Camino Hospital Board of Directors. "There is an emotional engagement here that is the cornerstone of our culture and quality, and it is derived from our 'community' status. A terrific illustration of this is with our Auxiliary, whose members have donated over five million hours of their time since it was founded in 1958, and it is this dedication to the community on which we intend to build in the fifty years to come."

The hospital's spirit of innovation has been driven and fostered by its staff, its award-winning service-lines, and its proximity and shared history with the Silicon Valley technology industry. The hospital's early adoption and ongoing use of health information technology and other computerized systems, voice-activation communications systems, wireless technology, and robotic technology led Popular Science Magazine in 2009 to name El Camino Hospital "the most technologically advanced hospital in the world."

El Camino Hospital's reputation for clinical excellence is demonstrated by its awards for stroke care, cardiac care and nursing excellence, among others.

Recent Significant Milestones

• In 2005, El Camino Hospital was awarded the prestigious Magnet designation by the American Nurses Credentialing Center, the first hospital in the Bay Area to be given this distinction -- and one that was renewed in 2010.
• In 2006, El Camino Hospital opened the South Asian Heart Center, becoming the first center in the world dedicated to addressing the epidemic of heart disease among individuals of South Asian descent.
• The Heart & Vascular Institute and Cancer Center both opened in 2007 with a similar goal of providing a comprehensive continuum of care to patients and their families by pulling together the services and expertise of multi-disciplinary teams of physicians and support groups.
• In 2007, the Fogarty Institute for Innovation was founded by Dr. Thomas J. Fogarty, an internationally recognized cardiovascular surgeon and inventor. It offers laboratory and engineering space for entrepreneurial innovators working on promising new medical therapies.
• In 2008, Orchard Pavilion became the Women's Hospital and is currently the only free-standing Women's Hospital in Northern California.
• In 2009, the new $480 million state-of-the-art, acute-care El Camino Hospital Mountain View opened and El Camino Hospital acquired and opened the El Camino Hospital Los Gatos.
• In 2011, to address the unique health disparities in Silicon Valley's Chinese community and accommodate cultural preferences in education, screening and health care delivery, the hospital launched the Chinese Health Initiative, which includes a network of 50 Chinese-speaking physicians covering an array of specialties, special health screenings and outreach targeted to the Chinese community.
• The Taft Center for Clinical Research was also established in 2011. It supports investigators and study teams involved in clinical research, and will enable physicians, patients and the community to have access to experimental treatments for heart disease, cancer and other diseases.
• 2011 also saw the opening of the Orthopedic Pavilion at El Camino Hospital Los Gatos, a unique post-surgery unit for orthopedic patients that offers comprehensive medical services in a comfortable hotel-like environment.

In celebration of its 50th anniversary, El Camino Hospital recently launched a series of short videos and an interactive timeline that showcases key innovations enabled by the pioneers of El Camino Hospital and significant events over the history of the hospital. These resources can be found at http://www.elcaminohospital.org/50th.

About the 50th Anniversary Party

The community will have a chance to celebrate the hospital's anniversary and meet new President and CEO Tomi Ryba on October 15, from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Mountain View campus.  It will be a unique opportunity to learn about the latest innovations from our premier service offerings from the Heart and Vascular Institute, Cancer Center, Orthopedics, and Women's Hospital.  We will also be unveiling new health resources for the Family Medical Officer (FMO) to best manage his/her family's health.

About El Camino Hospital

El Camino Hospital is an acute-care, 542-bed, not-for-profit and locally governed organization with campuses in Mountain View and Los Gatos, Calif. In addition to state-of-the-art emergency departments, key medical specialties include heart and vascular, cancer care, urology, orthopedic and spine, neuroscience, genomic medicine, and the only Women's Hospital in Northern California. The hospital is recognized as a national leader in the use of health information technology and wireless communications, and has been awarded the Gold Seal of Approval from The Joint Commission as a Primary Stroke Center as well as back-to-back ANCC Magnet Recognitions for Nursing Care.

To learn more, visit our website at www.elcaminohospital.org, find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/elcaminohospital, or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/elcaminohosp. For videos on El Camino Hospital, see www.youtube.com/elcaminohospital. For a physician referral, visit our website or call the El Camino Health Line at 800-216-5556.

SOURCE El Camino Hospital