Valley Presbyterian Celebrates 50 Years of Healing

Valley Presbyterian Hospital has been a regional trailblazer in medicine. There, the Valley’s first open-heart surgery and coronary angioplasty were performed and the first intensive care neonatal nursery unit in the Valley was opened. These and other strides were remembered when the hospital kicked off a 50-day celebration of its 50th anniversary Feb. 6. The two hours of festivities took place in the hospital’s historic hallway, which featured an exhibit of photographs from the hospital’s early years. Music played from the “Grease” soundtrack, the Doors, Ritchie Valens and more, apropos considering that the hospital’s 500-plus physicians will receive a commemorative CD featuring songs from the past five decades in light of the landmark anniversary. Valley Presbyterian CEO Albert L. Greene spoke to the Business Journal in a humorous tone about how the health care of yesteryear differs from that of today, saying that when the hospital first opened, a PET scan was something one did on a cat and a mouse was merely a nuisance, not a computer tool. “No one knew what the initials in MRI stood for,” Greene continued. “You didn’t do open-heart surgery. Fifty years ago, you didn’t have cardiac cath labs, radiation therapy. Most of the babies we have in the neonatal unit would have never survived for 24 hours 50 years ago.” Asked to describe the state of medicine at present, Greene said that technology continues to expand, making today’s medicine dramatically different from medicine five decades ago. “We’re seeing an explosion in nanotechnology, diagnostic devices. Fifty years ago, there was no hip replacement, joint replacement or knee replacement.” While he is awestruck about how medicine has changed from when Valley Presbyterian opened its doors, Greene doesn’t doubt that 50 years from now we will regard the medicine of 2008 as archaic. “Drugs will be designed for your specific genetic makeup,” he predicted. “Fifty years from now [medicine today] is going to pale in comparison to what you see.” When it opened in 1958, none of the administrators at Valley Presbyterian, the area’s largest independent nonprofit hospital, could foresee how rocky the health care climate would become. Greene believes that Valley Presbyterian, a 350-bed facility, has weathered the closures of nearby hospitals as well as the nursing shortage “because of the dedication of thousands of employees, dedicated physicians and the support of the community.” “I think all hospitals in the San Fernando Valley struggle with all of those issues. It’s all a balancing act, shifting priorities,” he added. Sylvia V. Henry, the hospital’s foundation director, said that Valley Presbyterian has felt the impact of shifts in health care. “We absorb those closures,” she said. “We have an increase in volume.” For instance, there has been a 52 percent jump in the amount of surgeries performed at the hospital between 2004 and 2007. The number of births has increased from an average of 288 monthly in 2004 to 500 monthly in 2006. More than 6,000 babies are born at the hospital annually. Next month, Valley Presbyterian will have a celebration for all babies born at the hospital since 1958, including Katherine Hollingsworth, the first baby born there. Valley Presbyterian has been significantly affected by the nursing shortage. To counteract the problem, the hospital has taken the initiative to train and develop nurses in a program funded by the UniHealth Foundation. More than anything, philanthropy is responsible for the hospital’s survival, Greene and Henry believe. As the hospital remembers its past, however, it is excited about what will happen in 2008. In particular, Valley Presbyterian is awaiting the launch of its new cardiac cath lab, expected to open next month. The new lab, which It will be situated between the hospital’s emergency and surgery departments, has been in the works since 2001, when the hospital’s Shaping Tomorrow campaign took off. This year will also see a groundbreaking for the hospital’s 70,000-square-foot, four-story medical office building and the beginning of a major renovation to its 10-room operating facility, which has never been upgraded. The renovation will include the refurbishment of lighting, cabinetry, flooring, doors and plumbing fixtures. Walls and hallways will be repaired and painted. Due to the increase in the number of births at the hospital, Valley Presbyterian also seeks to expand its labor and delivery unit. To complete the expansion, however, the hospital is relying on the philanthropic support of private donors. “We’re celebrating our 50th anniversary; it’s the perfect time for a call to action,” Henry said. The hospital hopes that the community will participate in other events it will host in celebration of its 50-year birthday, including a yearlong toy drive, the Valley Hip & Knee Institute Open House, a gala honoring board chairman David Fleming and a school career day. The hospital will also launch a new Web site and marketing campaign called “It Matters to Me.” Because of Valley Presbyterian’s contributions to the community, hospital spokeswoman Norma O’Flaherty believes it is crucial that it be the ongoing recipient of philanthropic funding. “We’re one of the very few independent hospitals in the Valley,” she said. “We don’t have a Providence or a CHW that can support us. We’re a stand-alone.”