Drive-thru coronavirus testing coming to Hemet

Drive-thru coronavirus testing coming to Hemet

Hemet Global Medical Center will begin limited drive-thru testing for the novel coronavirus Tuesday, March 31.

The center, 1117 E. Devonshire Ave., in Hemet, will be by appointment only.

To make an appointment call 951-765-4757 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. Only patients with a valid doctor’s order or symptoms of COVID-19, such as fever, cough, fatigue and difficulty breathing should make an appointment.

The testing entrance is off of North Weston Place between East Devonshire Avenue and East Date Street.

SEE ON THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE

Riverside County’s 1st Private Drive-Through Covid-19 Test Site Opens at Hemet Global Medical Center

Riverside County’s first private drive-thru testing center for COVID-19 opened in Hemet on Tuesday.

The testing site, which is operated by Hemet Global Medical Center, will be available to referred patients, those experiencing severe symptoms or elderly patients, who considered most at risk for the virus.

For those in the Hemet or San Jacinto area, other public testing sites across the Inland Empire may be too far to travel to, which is why officials opened this one.

“We still have a very large senior population. For them to have to travel an hour, an hour and a half, away from the valley is difficult for them, especially now with having all the social distancing issues and so forth that are enacted. We want to try to mitigate some of those issues for those folks,” said Hemet Global’s Keith Garrison.

The process takes about 10 minutes, and test results are typically available within two to three days. Appointments can be made by calling (951) 765-4757. The program is scheduled to be held from 8 a.m. to noon.


SEE ON ABC7 NEWS WEBSITE

KPC Health founder, Dr. Kali Chaudhuri chairman receives ‘Book of Golden Deeds’ Community Service Award

KPC Health founder, Dr. Kali Chaudhuri chairman receives ‘Book of Golden Deeds’ Community Service Award

HEMET – Dr. Kali P. Chaudhuri, founder and chairman of KPC Health, was recently named the 53rd annual Book of Golden Deeds award winner by the Hemet-San Jacinto Exchange Club.

Awarded every year since 1967, the Book of Golden Deeds honors members of the San Jacinto and Hemet communities who give their time and talents to make their community a better place to live and work.

Hundreds of community members, stakeholders, elected officials, friends and family members gathered at the Soboba Resort and Casino Events Center Thursday, Dec. 5, to honor Chaudhuri for his many contributions to the surrounding community, including KPC Health’s Hemet and Menifee Global Medical Centers.

“I love Hemet and the future is bright for this community,” Chaudhuri said. “To me, Hemet is heaven. I came here more than 30 years ago to start my medical practice and never left. I raised my family here, built my business here, and made Hemet my home.  There is still much work to be done, and I look forward to helping in every way that I can.”

KPC Health owns and operates a group of integrated health care delivery systems consisting of acute care hospitals, Independent Physician Associations, medical groups and various fully integrated multispecialty medical facilities.

KPC Health Founder, Chairman Receives ‘Above and Beyond’ Award From Crime Survivors

KPC Health Founder, Chairman Receives ‘Above and Beyond’ Award From Crime Survivors

CORONA, Calif., Aug. 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Dr. Kali P. Chaudhuri, Founder and Chairman of the KPC Group and KPC Health, was recently presented with the “Above and Beyond” award from the Southern California based non-profit, Crime Survivors.  Crime Survivors’ mission is to provide hope and healing to victims and survivors of crime through advocacy and the support of resources, information, and empowerment from the critical time after a crime occurs, through the challenges and successes of surviving and thriving. 

In April of 2018, Dr. Chaudhuri and KPC Health generously provided space to establish the first Crime Survivors Resource Center in Southern California.  The resource center is located adjacent to Orange County Global Medical Center and Regional Trauma Center in the KPC Health corporate office building and is a place where survivors of crime can find the support and resources they need.  The award was given to Dr. Chaudhuri in recognition of this contribution. 

The award was presented at Crime Survivors’ annual Hope Gratitude Gala on Friday, August 2nd, which was co-chaired by Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer and Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes, and featured veteran and international hero, Spencer Stone, as the keynote speaker.

“We are extremely grateful to Dr. Chaudhuri and KPC Health for their generous support for the Crime Survivors organization,” said Patricia Wenskunas, Founder and CEO of Crime Survivors.  “Having a brick and mortar Southern California Resource Center better enables us to provide critical support services to survivors of crime and is a major milestone for our organization.”

“KPC Health is proud to support such an incredible organization that provides a voice for the voiceless and does so much good work for our community,” said Dr. Kali P. Chaudhuri, Founder and Chairman of the KPC Group and KPC Health.  “Patricia Wenskunas is a selfless person that is committed to an important cause, and we look forward to supporting her and Crime Survivors in their future endeavors.”

“Dr. Chaudhuri understands that providing quality healthcare is about more than simply treating a patient when they are sick or injured,” said Peter Baronoff, CEO of KPC Health.  “It also requires a commitment to, and investment in, the communities we serve.  Dr. Chaudhuri’s work with Crime Survivors is a perfect demonstration of his passion for helping others, especially the truly vulnerable in our society.”

KCP Global Health Care Center in Hemet Welcomes New Physician Residents

KCP Global Health Care Center in Hemet Welcomes New Physician Residents

Thirty-five recently graduated medical and osteopathic doctors received their white coats in special ceremonies, June 28, at the KPC Health Center in Hemet officially recognizing them as physicians beginning their one to three year residencies in their chosen specialties.

The new doctors come from top rated medical schools in the United States and across the globe and will be assisting local doctors on their rounds at the recently renamed KPC Hemet Global Medical Center and KPC Menifee Hospitals. The residents will learn the fine points of their chosen specialities from working Physicians for Healthy Hospitals at the local medical centers.

The doctors were greeted and welcomed by Peter Baronoff, the CEO of KPC Health.

“It is really the beginning of what’s it all about being a physician,” he said to them. “We hope some of you will want to stay after your residency.”

Dr. Sumanta Chaudhuri Saini, director of medical education, introduced the faculty to the new residents who they will be working with. The faculty from the different specialities, attending the ceremony included DME program director Dr. Frederick White in radiology and Chaudhuri Saini who will head up internal medicine along with Dr. Veeravat Tae, the associate program director.

Chaudhuri Saini will also be in charge of the 18 residents in the 2019-2020 transitional year program who have chosen to stay another year to learn additional skills in their professions. Specialty residency programs such as the one at the KPC hospitals many continue from one to five years. Thus far nearly 99 doctors have completed their residency at the local hospitals in the last five years.with a number choosing to remain in the Hemet San Jacinto Valley in their own practices and specialties.

White presented white coats to first year internal medicine residents: Yuvraj Brar, MD; Mastaneh Nikravesh, MD; Ankit Dubey, MD; Natalia Jacobs, DO; Sabina Kumar, DO; Steven Noriega, MD; Jinesh Patel, MD; Naresh Purohit, MD; Jessica So, MD; Sergi Khodakivskyi, MD; Megan Locks, DO; Kevin Martin, DO; Mohammad Yousuf, MD, and Chukwuemeka “Emeka” Umeh, MBBS.

White also presented white coats to 2019-2020 second year radiology residents: April Garcia, DO; Kayra Rubio, DO, and John Thueson, DO.

Chudhuri Saini presented white coats to first year transitional residents: Christine Chang, DO; Neha Dhadwal, DO; Jaspreet Dhanjal, MD; Arka Dutta, MD; Medi Eslani, MD; Pete Flores, MD; Asmar Abdul Ghani, MD; Divya Gupta, MD; Jaxmyne Hefflefinger, DO; Ravi Janumpally, MD; Shadi Kazourra, MD, Poojitha Mummaneni, MD; Anphong Nguyen, MD; Muhammad Safwatullah, MD; Clinjto Schaefer, DO; Krystal Sood, MD, and Ashley Stratton, DO.

With their white coats, bearing their physician names, the residents raised their right hands to swear the osteopathic and Hippocratic oath led by Chaudhuri Saini.

Dr. So from Apple Valley, who received her medical training at St. George’s University School of Medicine in Granada, said she chose to take her residency at the KPC Global Medical Center in Hemet because the hospital itself offered what she said has an amazing faculty.

“I had kinda heard this from a friend before that it was a teaching population where you couldn’t get any better training anywhere else,” So said.

KPC’s Chaudhuri Aims For Kaiser-Like Integration

KPC’s Chaudhuri Aims For Kaiser-Like Integration

KPC Group founder Kali Chaudhuri is attempting to do what a private capital firm, a nonprofit charity, and Los Angeles’ wealthiest person couldn’t—turn around a struggling regional hospital system. 

The Business Journal reported last month that Chaudhuri’s KPC planned to pay $610 million to acquire assets of bankrupt Verity Holdings LLC, a Redwood City-based firm that owned four hospitals—including Lynwood’s St. Francis Medical Center, a 384-bed trauma center in L.A. County—and a nursing facility. 

Chaudhuri’s plan to revitalize those facilities may be to give the unionized workers a chance to own part of the hospital, something he’s done with other hospitals he turned around in Orange County. 

“I came to America with $8 in my pocket,” Chaudhuri told the Business Journal. “The reason I work hard in America is because I own my own business, and our employees will work hard because they are owners.” 

The ownership plan for Verity won’t immediately be available, as KPC will initially focus on restructuring. 

“I’d like the program to be everywhere, but we need to make sure we properly size things up and integrate; it cannot be done right away,” he said. 

Wasted Water 

Chaudhuri, a native of India, started his career as an orthopedist in the Riverside County town of Hemet, 75 miles east of Irvine. 

He has since built Riverside-based KPC Group into a firm with $10 billion in assets in disparate industries like real estate, pharmaceuticals and engineering. 

A subsidiary, KPC Healthcare Inc., is making the Verity purchase and is based in Santa Ana. 

KPC Healthcare currently includes seven full-service acute care hospitals throughout Southern California. Its four hospitals based in Orange County are Orange County Global Medical Center, South Coast Global Medical Center, Anaheim Global Medical Center and Chapman Global Medical Center, which generated revenue of $382 million in 2018 combined. 

It also operates independent physician associations and various medical facilities such as skilled nursing, behavioral health and ambulatory care sites. 

In addition to buying four OC hospitals via bankruptcy sales, Chaudhuri has also purchased Hemet Valley Medical Center, Menifee Valley Medical Center and Victor Valley Community Hospital in Victorville, now known as Victor Valley Global Medical Center. 

He compares healthcare inefficiency to water being wasted during a rainstorm. 

“The water coming from the sky should all fall in one bucket so we can use it, redistribute it and save it,” he said. “Unfortunately, a lot of water is wasted and that is the problem we are figuring out.” 

About 30 hospitals close annually, according to the American Hospital Association. 

Kaiser Model 

Chaudhuri likens his healthcare company’s integration plans to that of Kaiser Permanente, which has its own hospitals, HMO health plan and physician employees. 

He foresees KPC Healthcare including medical and nursing colleges, a pharmaceutical company, in addition to hospitals and nursing homes. 

Integration “allows us to look at the whole dollar,” he said. 

Along with the Verity assets, KPC also recently announced plans to acquire seven of Promise Healthcare Inc.’s long-term acute care hospitals and two skilled nursing facilities in states like Kansas, Utah and Texas. 

That deal is expected to be completed by the end of this month, a spokesperson said. 

When all of the acquisitions are completed, KPC’s healthcare system will be comprised of 18 hospitals, totaling over 2,500 beds, and three healthcare facilities across seven states. 

The combined entity will have approximately 10,000 employees and an estimated value of over $2 billion. 

“KPC has had a great history of turning around hospitals,” said KPC Healthcare Chief Executive Peter Baronoff, who joined the Santa Ana company last July. 

Baronoff, who co-founded and previously served as chairman and chief executive of Florida- based Promise, said that the combination of hospitals, clinics and skilled nursing facilities will enable KPC to provide “a variety of services critical to the communities these hospitals serve.” 

Daunting Task 

The Verity purchase looks likely to be KPC’s biggest-ever challenge, in terms of a turnaround. 

The hospitals were previously owned by the Daughters of Charity Healthcare System, which had continuous losses due to “mounting labor costs, low reimbursement rates and the ever- changing healthcare landscape,” according to a bankruptcy filing. 

It was sold in 2015 to private investor BlueMountain Capital Management LLC, which changed the hospital system’s name to Verity. In 2017, Nantworks, a company controlled by billionaire Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, owner of the Los Angeles Times, acquired a controlling stake in Integrity Healthcare, the company that manages Verity. 

Soon-Shiong poured tens of millions of dollars into the company to revitalize the hospitals, many of which are in lower-income neighborhoods. It reported a $111.4 million operating loss in 2018, triple that of the $35.3 million operating loss in 2017. 

Last year, Verity went into bankruptcy and its assets were listed for sale. In April, an affiliate of KPC Healthcare won the bidding. 

The transaction, which is still subject to review by the California Attorney General, is comprised of St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood, St. Vincent Medical Center and St. Vincent Dialysis Center in downtown Los Angeles and Seton Medical Center in Daly City. The hospitals total 1,107 beds. Seton operates Seton Medical Center Coastside in Moss Beach, a 116-bed skilled nursing facility. 

The biggest prize is the St. Francis Medical Center, which was valued at $420 million. It’s a Level II trauma center that handles more than 80,000 emergencies a year, according to its website. The purchase gives KPC two major trauma centers in Southern California. 

As part of the agreement, KPC has agreed to keep main service lines open and make employment offers to substantially all employees at these facilities, including full-time, part- time and contract workers. 

KPC’s pledge was important to its winning court-overseen bid. 

“Labor is very important, [comprising] of 60% [of the cost] of the delivery of healthcare,” Chaudhuri said. 

Value Creator 

Chaudhuri declined to comment on taking on a task where others like Soon-Shiong didn’t succeed. 

“I don’t buy everything that comes to the market, I only buy things that would create value for my organization,” he said. 

Growing the base of medical workers is high on Chaudhuri’s priority. 

In 2003, he established the first private medical school in Bengal, India, where he now has a 25- acre campus comprised of KPC Medical College and Hospital, as well as the Shova Rani Nursing College and Paramedical College that provides medical services to residents of the Indian city of Kolkata. 

He’s excited about his latest education project—a new college in Hemet, where he resides with his wife, Sunanda. 

“The most important thing in healthcare today is the shortage of doctors, nurses,” he said. 

Demand for healthcare workers will outpace supply by 2025, and the U.S. will need to hire 2.3 million new healthcare workers to meet demand, according to a recent report by Mercer LLC. 

While the Hemet project is in the early planning stage, Chaudhuri said the program he’s starting will encourage doctors and nurses to go to rural areas, where the rate of physicians to patients is 1-to-2,500 in rural America, according to National Rural Health Association estimate. – 

“I have to tell you, I don’t have all the solutions and I don’t like to talk a lot before it happens, but I’d like to do my best,” Chaudhuri said.

Hemet Valley Medical Center Gets $30 Million ‘face lift’ — and a New Name

Hemet Valley Medical Center Gets $30 Million ‘face lift’ — and a New Name

What used to be the medical records room is now packed with new X-ray equipment and hospital beds. Residents — also new — help doctors track dye through a patient’s blood vessels in the new $10 million catheterization laboratory.

Down the hall, decorative wooden chairs and framed flower paintings greet surgery patients in the renovated day surgery outpatient recovery area.

“It’s as if the whole hospital received a face lift,” said Keith Garrison, vice president of facilities management and hospital operations for KPC Global Healthcare.

Repainted, remodeled and soon-to-be-officially renamed as Hemet Global Medical Center, Hemet’s hospital has big aspirations for the San Jacinto Valley and beyond — and for itself.

Hemet Valley Medical Center, which next month becomes Hemet Global, recently finished the first stage of its three-part, multi-million-dollar capital improvement project. The effort, so far, has included more than $30 million in remodeling, upgrades and new additions. Among the updates, Garrison said, was a new, $22,000 senior waiting room where older patients can relax before seeing a doctor. It opened Tuesday, May 28.

The hospital also spent $1.2 million upgrading its linear accelerator, a large machine that sends high-powered sub-atomic particles deep inside the body to destroy tumors. In addition, on the roof above the catheterization lab, a dense network of newly constructed beams, stilts and vents protects the building from earthquakes.

The KPC Group, of which KPC Global Healthcare is an affiliate, made $2.4 million of improvements to Menifee Valley Medical Center. The hospital will change its name to the Menifee Global Medical Center about the same time as the Hemet hospital’s name change.

Dr. Kali Chaudhuri, founder and chairman of the KPC Group, said the project is only the beginning.

Chaudhuri and his team have had discussions with the Pomona-based Western University of Health Sciences about starting a medical school next to Hemet Global Medical Center. While KPC Group has created early renderings for buildings, Western University spokesman Jeff Keating said discussions have not led to anything definitive.

Still, medical education is ongoing at the hospital. A residency program started in 2015 has now grown to over 39 residents, and there are plans to grow even further. Chaudhuri’s proposed school aims to address the Inland Empire’s chronic doctor shortage.

“We have a huge problem recruiting the doctors in Hemet,” he said. “Nobody wants to come here. If they come here and go to school, hopefully they will find their sweetheart and they will stay here.”

This venture is not new for him: In 2006, the orthopedic surgeon opened a 1,800,000-square-foot teaching hospital in West Bengal, India. Hospital administration itself is a well-worn path for Chaudhuri, whose company now owns six other acute care hospitals across Southern California, including four in Orange County.

Sumanta Chaudhuri Named Chief Medical Officer

Sumanta Chaudhuri Named Chief Medical Officer

HEMET, Calif., Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Today, KPC announced the appointment of Dr. Sumanta Chaudhuri as Chief Medical Officer for Hemet Valley Medical Center and Menifee Valley Medical Center. Hemet Valley Medical Center and Menifee Valley Medical Center are two of seven hospitals affiliated with KPC’s southern California-based health system.

A graduate of Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, Dr. Sumanta Chaudhuri most recently served as Program Director of the Transitional Year Internship for graduate medical residents at Hemet Valley Medical Center.

In addition, Dr. Chaudhuri served as the Associate Program Director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program and Director of the Peri-Operative Clinic of the Eye Institute at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Was selected as the Associate Program Director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program at Riverside Community Hospital, and served as Medical Director for local Independent Physician Associations and Hospitalist groups.

“Dr. Sumanta Chaudhuri brings with her a demonstrated track record of success, skill, passion, and expertise in healthcare through her clinical and academic credentials that are a tremendous benefit to the KPC health system and the communities we serve,” said Peter Baronoff, CEO of KPC Health.

“I am honored to have this opportunity to serve as Chief Medical Officer for Hemet Valley Medical Center and Menifee Valley Medical Center and will continue to pursue my lifelong goal of supporting high quality and accessible healthcare for our patients and their families,” said Dr. Chaudhuri.