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On behalf of the Tehachapi Valley Healthcare District, our board of directors, our medical staff, our employees, our patients, and our community let me be among the first to welcome you to the team! Some management gurus have used “team” as an acronym for Together Everyone Achieves More, and in many ways I would have to agree. For nearly 75 years, the Tehachapi Hospital has remained committed to providing our community with the most progressive health care available. Beginning with a concrete block structure built in 1912 as the Capdeville Hotel, after extensive modifications it began operation as a hospital in 1934. Special health care districts began forming in California in 1946 and the Tehachapi Valley Healthcare District was formed in 1949. It covers an area from Cache Creek to Keene. On July 21, 1952 the infamous Tehachapi Earthquake virtually destroyed downtown Tehachapi, including the Tehachapi Hospital. Fortunately, no Tehachapi Hospital patients or staff were injured. Unfortunately, the hospital was reduced to rubble. Less than a year later construction began on the first section of a new Tehachapi hospital on the same small site. The present Tehachapi Hospital was completed and began operation in 1957. Today, we are well into the process of planning for the replacement of the facility that has served us well for the past fifty years. The greater Tehachapi community has demonstrated its support through the approval of a $15 million bond initiative to fund the construction. Soon, the people of Tehachapi and surrounding areas will have a new hospital that matches the exceptional quality of our physicians and staff. With an expanded range of medical services, we're evolving from our modest beginning into a modern, 24-room critical access hospital that has the ability to grow with our community and has a potential to become a rural health care model for the nation. The realization of that potential will depend on each of us. The TVHD Board of Directors has adopted a new Mission, Vision and Values statement. I challenge each of our employees and staff to read that statement, to commit those goals to memory, and to help us achieve them by their action, dedication, commitment, and personal efforts. Our emphasis on prevention means we will continue to offer educational outreach programs to promote wellness among the citizens of Tehachapi and neighboring counties. Our Diabetes education, chronic disease management, smoking cessation, and annual health fair programs are renowned. The Tehachapi Hospital fully understands the value of medical technology. In fact, our hospital houses some of the most advanced equipment in our rural area of California. Technology is vitally important to enhancing the level and quality of care we are able to provide. For example, sophisticated patient records technology in our new information technology system greatly streamlines admissions. We're proud of our technology, but we're equally proud of the fact that we dispense our modern medicine with a healthy dose of good old-fashioned human compassion. Our staff is committed to a personalized, caring approach to each of our clients, individually. Tehachapi Hospital is proud to be home to the finest and best organized volunteer auxiliary in the state – The Guild of Tehachapi Hospital. The guild owns and manages a first class thrift shop; hosts numerous fund raising events annually; purchases much needed equipment for the hospital; and are some of the kindest people on the planet. We are equally proud of our fundraising arm – The Tehachapi Hospital Foundation. My wife and I have joined the foundation and support its efforts to raise monies for the new hospital construction. I encourage each of you to consider joining the Foundation, as well. I personally thank you for joining our team as a medical professional, a staff member, or a volunteer. Thank you for sharing our Mission, Vision and Values. Thank you for your tireless efforts on behalf of the fine people of our community – the Greater Tehachapi Area. Thank you for helping us prove that indeed, together everyone achieves more. I hope you enjoy our website. Alan J. Burgess, FACHE, CFAAMA Chief Executive Officer |
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