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Leadership

Leadership


. Executive Team
. Board of Directors
Executive Team
Gus-Web-photo-120.jpgGustavo Valdespino, President and Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Valdespino was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer in September 2009.

 Mr. Valdespino is a seasoned leader with more than 25 years of hospital management experience.  He is widely known and respected in the Southern California hospital industry, having served as Senior Vice President of Operations for Tenet Health Corporation's Southern California Region as well as the CEO of several hospitals. After leaving Tenet in 2003, Mr. Valdespino served as President and Chief Executive Officer of St. Vincent Medical Center in Los Angeles.  For the past three years, Mr. Valdespino has served as Chief Executive Officer at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County - a nationwide non-profit organization dedicated to providing one on one mentoring for children.

Mr. Valdespino is active in both community and professional organizations and has served on numerous boards, such as the March of Dimes, the American Diabetes Association, and the Latino Business Association. He has also been a board member of the Blue Cross Hospital Relations Committee, the Federation of American Hospitals, the Healthcare Association of Southern California and the California Health Association.

In 1998, Mr. Valdespino received the "Up and Comer" Award from Modern Healthcare Magazine. He also received the National Medical Enterprises Circle of Excellence Award (1992-1993); the Tenet Healthcare Corporation Circle of Excellence Award (1996-1998); and the "Leading Hispanic Executive" Award from Hispanic Business Magazine, in 2001.

Mr. Valdespino holds a bachelor's degree from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, a master's degree in public health from the University of California, Los Angeles, and completed the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School in Boston.

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Exec-BOB-ALLEN.jpgRobert Allen, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Since June 2007, Robert Allen has served as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Valley Presbyterian Hospital.

Mr. Allen brings more than 20 years of financial experience to Valley Presbyterian Hospital. Previous to joining Valley Pres, Mr. Allen served as Executive Vice President/Chief Financial Officer at CHA Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center – a 434-bed acute-care facility formerly owned by Tenet Health Systems. He has also held positions as Chief Financial Officer at several hospitals in the San Fernando Valley, including a long tenure at Verdugo Hills Hospital.

Mr. Allen has been credited in his career with successfully renegotiating contracts and restructuring debt resulting in significant increases in net revenue and improving revenue cycles. As Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Valley Presbyterian Hospital, Mr. Allen has administrative responsibility over all financial operations of the hospital.

Mr. Allen holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from California State University, Northridge and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Pepperdine University.

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Exec-Judy-Maass.jpgJudith Maass, Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer

Since May 2008, Judith Maass has served as Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer for Valley Presbyterian.

Ms. Maass has more than 20 years of healthcare and leadership experience and has worked in a variety of clinical areas including pediatric critical care, emergency services, ambulatory services, case management and maternal child health. Prior to joining Valley Presbyterian Hospital, Ms. Maass served as Vice President, Patient Care Services at Verdugo Hills Hospital – a 158-bed acute-care community hospital in Glendale.

In addition to supervising the hospital’s largest component of patient care, our 500 staff nurses, Ms. Maass also oversees Valley Presbyterian’s Nurse Development Program, which has created a permanent pipeline of highly skilled nurses dedicated to the patients and continued success of Valley Presbyterian Hospital.

Ms. Maass holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing and a Master of Science in Nursing, Nurse Practitioner from the University of Phoenix.

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Exec-Ray-Moss-.jpgRay Moss, Vice President and Chief Information Officer 

Ray Moss was appointed Vice President and Chief Information Officer for Valley Presbyterian Hospital in September 2007.

Mr. Moss brings more than 20 years of technology experience to Valley Presbyterian Hospital. Prior to joining VPH, Mr. Moss served as Client Executive for Perot Systems supporting Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Mr. Moss also has held high-level technology management positions at Catholic Healthcare West, Perot Systems Corp., and Northridge Hospital Medical Center.

Mr. Moss leads a dedicated team of Information Technology professionals at Valley Pres who are responsible for phasing in digital imaging and electronic medical records, and installing and maintaining larger capacity servers.

Mr. Moss holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from California State University, Northridge in addition to certification and experience improving hospital business processes, service delivery, project management and systems implementation.

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Exec-Wes-Schmidt.jpgWesley Schmidt, Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer

Wesley Schmidt was appointed Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer for Valley Presbyterian Hospital in June 2008.

Mr. Schmidt brings more than 10 years of healthcare and human resources experience to Valley Pres. Prior to joining VPH, Mr. Schmidt served as Director of Human Resources at Simi Valley Hospital – a 153-bed hospital that is part of Adventist Health, a not-for-profit, faith-based health system operating in California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington. Mr. Schmidt also held the position of Manager of Human Resources at Florida Hospital Heartland Division in Florida.

Mr. Schmidt will be responsible for leading the implementation of an HR online new hire application and requisition along with a paperless performance evaluation system.

Mr. Schmidt holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Southwestern Adventist University and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Webber International University.

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Exec-David-Specter.jpgDavid Specter, Vice President Corporate Development       

David Specter joined the VPH executive team in 2006.  As Vice President, Corporate Development, David oversees new business development, physician relations, physician recruitment, marketing and public relations, government relations and foundation.  He is responsible for creating and implementing the Hospital’s annual strategic business plan, as well as evaluating the feasibility of new programs and services.

Mr. Specter has over 25 years of broadly ranging experience in hospitals and healthcare organizations of various sizes and complexities, from startups to large publicly traded companies, government and non-profit entities, as well as forming and running a successful management consulting firm. 

After working in the Pacific Northwest for 10 years, Mr. Specter returned to Southern California in 2002 to become the Director of Business Development for WellPoint Health Networks, in Camarillo.  In 2004, David formed California Healthcare Solutions, LLC, providing management and business development consulting to hospitals, healthcare facilities and managed care organizations. 

Among previous positions, Mr. Specter served as CEO and co-founder of Seattle based CentriCell Scientific, Inc., a biotech startup company.  He was also Associate Director of the Center for Health Studies, a large health research center in Seattle, was Director of the Jefferson County Health and Human Services in Washington State, and did work in hospital mergers, acquisitions and business development for over 10 years in Los Angeles and Orange County, California. 

Mr. Specter holds an MPH degree from the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public Health.


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Board of Directors

Board-D-Fleming.jpg                                           Board-William-Allen.jpg
David W. Fleming,  Chairman                                 William C. Allen, Secretary
Attorney, Latham & Watkins                                     President & CEO of the Los Angeles
                                                                                 Economic Development Corporation

Board-Jim-Porter.jpg                                           Board-LeRoy-Chase.jpg
James Porter, Treasurer                                         LeRoy Chase
Community Representative                                       President & CEO, Boys & Girls Club of the
                                                                                 San Fernando Valley

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Board-Carole-Cook.jpg                                           Board-Di-Domienico.jpg
Carole Cook                                                             Nicholas Di Domenico, M.D.
Community Representative                                       Physician, Valley Presbyterian Hospital

Board-Ira-Friedman1.jpg                                           Board-Richard-Katz.jpg

Ira J. Friedman, M.D.                                               Richard Katz
Physician, Valley Presbyterian Hospital                     Owner, Richard Katz Consulting

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Board-Greg-Kay-120.jpg                                           Board-Dr-Malek.jpg
Greg Kay, M.D.                                                        Kamran Malek, M.D.
Partner, Natural Balance Pet Foods, Inc.                  Chief of Staff, Valley Presbyterian Hospital

 

Board-Suman-Patel.jpg                                           Board-Tracy-Rafter.jpg
Suman Patel, M.D.                                                  Tracy Rafter
Physician, Valley Presbyterian Hospital                    CEO, BizFed, Los Angeles County
                                                                                 Business Federation

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Board-Ramachandran.jpg                                           Board-Stuart-Solomon.jpg
Sridhar Ramachandran, M.D.                                  Stuart Solomon
Physician, Valley Presbyterian Hospital                     President/ Founder, Transcon Properties, Inc.


Board-R_S_Vasan.jpg                                           Board-ray-Vega.jpg
R.S. Vasan, M.D.                                                       Ray Vega
Past Chief of Staff, Valley Presbyterian Hospital       Owner, Casa Vega Restaurant

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