BY ALEEN ARSLANIAN
Since its inception in 1924, CHA Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center and its parent company, CHA Health Systems, have served as a cornerstone to the Los Angeles community’s health, providing comprehensive, quality medical services to meet the needs of its culturally diverse community. Earlier this year, the medical center broke ground on a new patient tower. CHA HPMC is continuously evolving to meet the needs of the changing communities, as well as to be able to accommodate and serve individuals of all demographics.
The expansion project began in 2018, with the construction of the new structure taking place directly across from the old parking garage. The new patient tower will offer a number of new amenities, including an entirely new maternity ward with 13 labor, delivery, and recovery rooms, three surgical suites, and 19 neonatal intensive care unit beds; an expanded emergency department with 20 exam rooms, double in size from the current emergency department; installation of new, state-of-the-art surgical equipment; a detox area to treat drug or alcohol-dependent patients; a chest pain observation area; a cardiac catheterization laboratory; an electrophysiology laboratory; 5 additional floors, with 44 private patient rooms; 550 additional parking spaces; as well as an addition of more than 100 new jobs. In addition to these remarkable advancements, CHA HPMC has an award-winning stroke center which will expand with the opening of the new patient tower. The construction of the tower is slated for completion in 2021.
Dr. Arus Zograbyan, a Los Angeles-based obstetrician-gynecologist, has been with CHA HPMC for more than 16 years. A foreign medical graduate, Dr. Zograbyan completed her residency at Los Angeles County+University of Southern California’s Medical Center. Prior to joining as an attending, Dr. Zograbyan was one of the first groups of residents who participated in the residency program from LAC+USC’s Medical Center in 2001. “This is my home,” she said, “where I’ve delivered over 7,000 babies.” Dr. Zograbyan is one of several doctors who are leading the advancement of women’s health at the hospital. “As we have pretty high acuity patients, we have 24-hour, on-call anesthesiologists, OB-GYNs, and neonatologists, which is different from some of the community hospitals where doctors are still on call, but they’re not physically located in the hospital. In case of emergencies, this is definitely a quicker and safer place to be,” noted Dr. Zograbyan. The hospital’s NICU team works in collaboration with Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, as they often deliver babies with anomalies. Mothers from all over the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii, choose CHA HPMC in order to deliver in a close proximity to Children’s Hospital.
CHA HPMC offers comprehensive women’s care, with a focus on preventive medicine. With the expansion of the new patient tower, the hospital will be able to better deliver centralized women’s services to the Los Angeles community. The Medical Center has even been designated as a “Baby Friendly” hospital. Baby friendly is a designation that is given to certain hospitals that promote exclusive breastfeeding. It’s a several step process, which took a team of doctors, including Dr. Zograbyan, several years to complete. “As of late, several additional, beneficial services for women have been implemented in the hospital. For example, we have our lactation consultants. After our patients deliver their babies, if they need help, a specialized lactation consultant is available, because we are trying to promote breastfeeding. Breastfeeding is healthy and promotes bonding. There are several health benefits for the mother, as well as for the baby,” said Dr. Zograbyan.
The hospital also has on staff a specialist in gynecologic oncology to provide services for patients who have cancer, as well as an urogynecologist. “There are a lot of women in their post-menopausal years that have a prolapse and pelvic floor problems and incontinence. We have a doctor on staff that can evaluate them and perform surgeries on site,” noted Dr. Zograbyan. “One of the greatest changes came when we started building the labor, delivery, and recovery rooms, because women don’t want to be moved during labor. When they come in active labor, they stay in the same room, they labor in the room, deliver there, and they stay for first postpartum few hours. There is more privacy, and there’s more bonding time with the infant,” she added.
Hospital administration and staff have carefully planned the expansion effort to minimize any inconveniences for their patients, visitors, and staff. CHA HPMC administration has periodically communicated with both their patients and doctors, informing them of any changes taking place. Additionally, a local community agency hired by the hospital travels within a 5-mile radius – from door-to-door with a newsletter –communicating with the community audiences accordingly.
CHA HPMC is a 434-bed acute care facility with more than 500 physicians and specialists, representing 69 specialties. The medical center employs more than 1,300 nurses, technicians, and staff from the community. The center currently offers state-of-the-art care and innovative programs to its community, including a designated STEMI Receiving Center; a Neuroscience Institute; a Women’s Health Institute; DaVinci Robotic Surgical System; as well as the recently launched Southern California Eye Institute. The hospital has implemented Medicare’s Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Advanced, and has partnered with a non-profit to open a number of Wellness and Preventive Health Centers across Southern California in the coming year.
The hospital is unique in that it’s a member of CHA Health Systems, a dynamic global health organization. Worldwide, CHS owns leading hospitals, academic institutions, biotechnology companies, wellness and other specialty clinics, with geographical footprints all over the globe, including Armenia, Japan, and Australia. CHS is a leader in global medical research and new technologies. In the Los Angeles community, CHS is making innovations in healthcare possible. CHA HPMC’s goal is to provide quality healthcare services to as many patients as possible and to bring everyone world-class care in their own backyard, beginning with more space for care.
Mr Pachinyan, how is it that our country is deprived of this exceptional knowledge, experiences and achievements, encouraged, consecrated by the world’s medical organizations after your visits to the diaspora? What work does our health minister do? Why does this minister not consult or even engage in cooperation with French officials for social protection, the best in the world? I dare say that this is a serious fault, for 30 years, when successive ministers have had all the links with the medical diaspora? I think I know the reason or the reasons that persist is the system of corruption that greatly enriches the medical corps, with the doctors in their head, at the expense of the population who cannot access health care. Patients must bring to the hospital, their bedding, food, medications, even the collection of urine which is paid directly to the caregiver … whereas the total protection system can be put in place in less than a year. The stakes and the brake, it must be remembered, remains the corruption of doctors who within the framework of the social protection system will never be able to enrich himself outside a clear method of remuneration. There was the inauguration of the total renovation of the hospital of Dilijan where were present Mr. Pachinian and the local authorities, with the press but where was the minister of health?
I agree 100%, the system needs a major revamp and the throw away of ancient soviet idiotic professors who impede progress.
The state does not want to care about the health of the nation. It thinks it is not part of national security