Modern Healthcare has named Sunitha Reddy, VP of Operations for Prime Healthcare, as one of America’s 25 Top Emerging Leaders, in recognition of her work to help community hospitals remain open and improve performance across the country.

Modern Healthcare, the leader in healthcare business news, research, and data, annually honors emerging leaders aged 40 and under who have made significant contributions in the areas of innovation, financial, operational, and clinical excellence.

“Fresh perspectives, adaptability and strategic thinking are crucial to the advancement of healthcare, especially at a time when ideas about care delivery and patient needs are rapidly changing,” said Fawn Lopez, Modern Healthcare Publisher.

Reddy oversees revenue cycle and financial operations for Prime Healthcare and guides managed care strategy. Challenges in revenue cycle and operations, compounded with increasing costs have put significant financial strain on community hospitals, leading to bankruptcies or hospital closures around the country. Reddy has focused on revenue cycle improvement and building the bridge between finance and operations to aid communities struggling to keep their hospitals open. She successfully streamlined multiple clinical and financial operations to enhance performance across the organization, driving millions in improvements.

Reddy also led a multidisciplinary team to develop a user-friendly Patient Estimator Tool to help consumers better understand their healthcare costs, consistent with Prime Healthcare’s commitment to price transparency and consumer-focused care.

Prime Healthcare is one of the nation’s leading health systems with 45 hospitals and more than 300 outpatient locations in 14 states. Under Reddy’s leadership, teams at the hospital and corporate levels have designed and implemented new systems, data-driven processes, innovative technology, and best practices that have enhanced the operational performance of Prime Healthcare; helping the company triple in size since 2015.

“Sunitha is a proven innovator and servant leader who has helped position Prime Healthcare extremely well in the face of rapid advancements in the healthcare field,” said Sunny Bhatia, MD, Chief Medical Officer of Prime Healthcare. “In addition to her diligence and incredible contributions to our hospitals throughout the pandemic, Sunitha’s guidance and vision will be a key to ensuring Prime Healthcare’s continued record of clinical, financial and operational excellence.”

“Sunitha has been a leader in accelerating Prime Healthcare’s implementation of technologies and processes to drive improvements in performance,” said Steve Aleman, Prime Healthcare CFO. “She is always focused on our mission and our people, and she creates a culture of inclusivity and togetherness that celebrates everyone’s strengths and unique perspectives.”

Reddy is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives. She received a Master of Business Administration from Harvard University with honors; a Master of Public Health from Columbia University, where she received the Foster G. McGaw scholarship award for academic excellence; and a Bachelor of Science in Biology, Magna Cum Laude, from UCLA with college and departmental honors. For the last two years, Reddy has been recognized by Becker’s Hospital Review as a “Rising Star.”

“Thank you to Modern Healthcare for this prestigious recognition, and congratulations to my fellow honorees who are making an incredible impact through their work,” said Reddy. “I am honored to represent Prime Healthcare and our mission of saving hospitals to serve communities across the United States.”

This year’s honorees are profiled in the March 21 issue of Modern Healthcare magazine and online at Modernhealthcare.com/awards/top-25-emerging-leaders-2022

Inaugural Doctor of Medicine class celebrates Match Day as they match with residency programs nationwide

California University of Science and Medicine (CUSM) is celebrating a milestone! The 62-member inaugural Class of 2022 discovered their perfect match, medical specialty match, that is. Along with 37,000 other senior medical students nationwide, CUSM students opened envelopes at exactly 9:00 am PT to discover where they would go and what they would do next in their long path to medical practice. Four years of learning, two years of the pandemic, and months of applications, interviews, and rankings from students and programs led to this day. Students learned where they would continue their training as residents, and training programs learned which new physicians will be joining July 1, 2022. All through the National Residency Match Program.

Established with the mission to create educational and economic opportunities for Inland Southern California and help meet our region’s healthcare needs, CUSM’s first MD class began in 2018. CUSM now enrolls over 400 MD students, 91% of whom come from California. 40% from Inland Southern California 

The inaugural match is a big step in advancing the university’s goal of addressing the critical physician shortage, improving health equity, and enhancing population health for Inland Southern California. Gathered in the courtyard of the state-of-the-art medical school, faculty, staff, students, and their supporters shared their hopes and well wished to the students. “We are thrilled to see these results. They are an exceptional reflection of our mission.” said Paul Lyons, MD, CUSM President and Dean of the School of Medicine

CUSM is pleased to share the National Residency Match Program results for the Inaugural MD Class of 2022.  

• CUSM helps lead the national effort to address mental health with 12 students (20%) headed into Psychiatry. Among the highest in the nation.
• CUSM helps fill the primary care workforce gap with 16 (26%) students headed into Pediatrics, Family Medicine, and Internal Medicine.
• CUSM helps address frontline healthcare delivery with 10 (16%) students headed into Emergency Medicine.
• CUSM helps fill the regional workforce gap with approximately 1/5 in Inland Southern California and 2/3 in Southern California.
• 100% of students have destinations after graduation, including clinical training and research. 
• 18% (11) matched into programs in the Inland Empire.
• 100% of matched students are headed to specialties that have shortages in the IE, the main area of fulfilling the mission of CUSM.
• 38% (IM, Psych, OB, Peds, Family) matched into primary care specialties defined by the federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).

Ten surgeons will begin their training in the summer of 2022, with three in orthopedics, including two women, who are particularly underrepresented in orthopedics. Other surgical program matches include general surgery (4), vascular surgery (1), otolaryngology (1), obstetrics and gynecology (1), and ophthalmology. 

The class did well and placed in specialties with very few nationwide, such as urology, diagnostic radiology, anesthesiology, and physical medicine and rehabilitation.

Among notable destinations are partnering and local institutions Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, UHS Southern California, Kaiser, Loma Linda Medical Center, and Riverside Community Hospital. 

CUSM students are also headed to residency training programs at Stanford, UCLA, UC Irvine, UC San Diego, Mount Sinai Beth Israel (NY), Case Western (OH), University of Pittsburgh (PA), and University of Washington (WA).

Q&A with President & CEO of Mountain View Services–Mr. Eric Goodman

Tell us about Mountain View Services. What do you do? 

Mountain View Services, Inc, has been the leading supplier of Groceries, Medical supplies, Janitorial supplies, Nutritional supplements, Incontinent Supplies, Durable Medical Equipment, OTC’s, Personal supplies, Safety and Facility Supplies, Linens and Office supplies to healthcare facilities since 1988. We save you time and money by reducing labor costs, employee liability, vehicle costs, theft, etc. Our services include Free menus, order forms, in-services, budgeting and delivery. Our mission is to provide healthcare facilities with products and services of the highest quality to provide care to the residents they serve. 

What makes your company unique? 

We are the only company we know of that offers Food and Medical supplies from the same supplier. Most food distributors supply industrial food items; we supply household-size items. We also provide our customers with menus tailored for their facilities. 

How did the company start? 

The founder of our company was a third-generation healthcare provider in California. At that time the company owned about 60 facilities and opened our company to supply their facilities. Today our company services over 500 homes for developmentally disabled adults and children. And other care homes in the community for individuals. Form elderly care homes, community-based home care, hospices and residential care. 

Let’s get into your Mission. What is your “why”, and what gets you out of bed in the morning?

We want to help as many people in our community (facilities, individuals and charities) as we can. Our core values are Caring, Dependable and Honest. For over 33 years, we have provided needed supplies and served to over 3,000 developmentally disabled individuals. Now we are excited to expand our services to the local communities to help others who need medical supplies and healthcare products.

The more people we meet, the more people we can help. We want to impact our community by supporting charitable causes, providing medical supplies and healthcare products to people in need and helping healthcare facilities serve their residents. Together we can all make a difference in people’s lives in our communities. 

Why did you choose this industry/focus?

As a company, we supported the industry serving as a supplier to care homes. My purpose is committed to healthcare. When I was 15, I had a lifesaving operation at Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital. I was in ICU for weeks, the hospital for months, and in a full-body cast for eight months. I had to have therapy to learn how to walk again. This is the reason I started working in healthcare and volunteering for healthcare charities.

We know you are very community-oriented. What difference are you making in the community? 

We service homes for developmentally disabled adults and children, hospices, and home care. We also donate medical supplies to many local charities. Eric is on the board of directors for the American Heart Association, Mountain Shadows Foundation, The Fontana Foundation of Hope and was a twenty-year board member of Ronald McDonald House Charities.

Why is charity important to Mountain View? 

Giving back is part of our DNA. We have been doing it for 33 years and Eric is very passionate about helping others. Our business provides products and services that our client’s residents need to survive. I know every day that our work is doing something to help others, which drives my team and me to do a good job. Our mission is meaningful and fulfilling. We grew from a small, family-owned business to a more giant corporation with many employees. My motivation for our success is not making more money. My reason to grow the company is to help my employees and their families. If I can improve the lives of others, that means the business is a success.

What ways does your business give back? 

We donate Medical supplies to charities like the Ronald McDonald House, Casa Teresa and American Heart Association, to name a few. In addition to providing funding, our team donates their time at fundraisers (walks, community events, golf tournaments, etc.). We help local youth activists and support our team members’ families. 

Let’s get into the future of your business. Where do you see yourself in 1 year? In 5? 

We want to grow but out of the need to help more people. We want MVS to be the leader of healthcare supplies in our industry and community and want people to see MVS as a community partner and resource for those in need. We want to be a leader and pioneer in Corporate Social Responsibility for organizations that are not Fortune 500 companies. Family-owned companies can make the most significant impact in their community. 

What are your biggest focuses for the upcoming year? 

Let people know we are here to help, Make a difference in our community, and help impact the lives of others. We need strong community partners from our customers, vendors and team. 

Are there any exciting in-progress initiatives? 

We are launching the Salesforce Philanthropy Cloud Through the United Way to help engage our team in employee giving, volunteering and learning. This empowers everyone to make an impact while supporting our company causes and causes they are passionate about.