Home > Capital Campaign > Medical Staff Giving > Jaime Rivas, M.D.

ED Medical Director:

Hospital of the Future is Top Priority

Maybe it’s the eight years spent serving as Palomar Health’s (PPH) Emergency Department Medical Director, but Dr. Jamie Rivas wastes no time in explaining why he has been an early and enthusiastic supporter of the hospital of the future.

For many patients, the emergency department is the first – and often – most traumatic introduction to the hospital district. The existing emergency department at Palomar Medical Center was built to accommodate 28,000 patient visits a year; it currently handles about 66,000 each year. But new technology coupled with innovative procedures and a new facility built to support the patient load will bring some welcome changes.

“Patients will now move directly into a private room,” explained Rivas. “There will be immediate bedside registration and we’ll have our own CT scanner right there, and cardiologists will actually have the ability to implant Pacemakers right in the ED. Going to an electronic medical record system will also be a huge improvement. And just having more physical space will be an enormous help for both the staff and the patients.”

The new design will feature three areas, or pods, and each pod will include a central work station for physicians and two nurses’ work stations to give staff greater patient visibility. Families, who are now crowded into cramped areas to await word of their loved one’s condition, will be better supported with three separate, internal family waiting areas.

The new facility is now only months away from its grand opening and Rivas said he’s more involved than ever before in philanthropy.

“I was happy and grateful to help back in 2004, but now my focus is on how can I help the foundation raise money, and joining the foundation board was the next logical step,” Rivas said.

“From the medical staff’s perspective, it’s really about investing in the future, that’s the bottom line. We want our patients to have a positive experience and receive quicker, more efficient care, whether it’s in the Emergency Department or Surgery or up on the floors in the new patient rooms. That’s what we’re really investing in – we’re investing in our future and our patients’ future by providing the best hospital care available anywhere.”

To support the medical staff campaign, visit www.pphfoundation.org/medstaffgiving.