Thirty years ago, during a period of substantial change for both Huntington Hospital and health care as a whole, Steve Ralph started his work here. In the decades that have followed, our community hospital has grown to become a regional leader that delivers innovative patient care and results on-par with the top hospitals in the nation. Steve has been instrumental in helping Huntington Hospitalrealize its potential as a leader in creating community well-being through world-class health care delivered with kindness and dignity.

Now, as we celebrate our 125th year of providing excellent care, Steve has decided that he will be stepping down as Huntington Hospital’s president and chief executive officer, concluding 22 years in this leadership role.

To find the best and most qualified person to lead Huntington Hospital into its next chapter, our board of directors has convened a search committee and retained a national search firm to find our hospital’s next CEO. We are confident we will attract an excellent CEO successor and anticipate having a candidate in place by year-end 2017 or early 2018.

Once the new CEO is on board, Steve will step down from his current role but remain with Huntington Hospitalas a senior advisor to his successor and the board of directors. To ensure a seamless transition, Steve will continue to work closely with the board, his successor and others for a period of time, leveraging his deep knowledge and important relationships with our employees and physicians, community and partners.

Throughout the last 20 years — and especially during the last 10 — hospitals have seen significant changes and challenges that have forced near-constant evolution. Huntington Hospital is proud of its history of facing challenges head on, and excelling.

In 2003, we recognized the need for new services and facilities to serve our community, so we launched our largest ever comprehensive capital campaign and raised more than $100 million to ensure excellent healthcare delivery through the creation of a state-of-the-art patient tower. In 2008, we saw the need to expand further, this time to meet growing demand as Pasadena’s last emergency room and the region’s only trauma center. Again, we looked to our community and raised $83 million from philanthropic support that ultimately allowed us to double our capacity to provide life-saving care with the most advanced technologies. And in the years that have followed, we have continued to evolve to meet the ever-changing needs of our community and remain focused on delivering the right care, in the right place, at the right time.

Our excellence is manifested in the outstanding team of talented and dedicated people who ensure we are here for our community 24 hours daily. Their expert, compassionate care has allowed our hospital to be honored in myriad ways. We are immensely proud to be designated as a Magnet® hospital by the American Nurses Credentialing Center, recognizing the very best in nursing care and professionalism in nursing practice. Our medical staff is among the best in the nation, covering all medical specialties. Over 1,500 volunteers ensure the hightouch, patient-centered care that is our hallmark. We have been celebrated numerous times by Healthgrades for being in the top-1% in the nation for clinical outcomes and ranked by U.S. News and World Report as a top-5 hospital in the Los Angeles Metro Area and a top-10 hospital in California overall.

And last year, our board of directors reaffirmed and refreshed Huntington Hospital’s vision, mission and core values, adding important words like collaboration, kindness and dignity that underscore our sincere commitment to providing compassionate community care.

These accomplishments under Steve’s leadership — alongside accreditations, designations and awards too many to list — give us the utmost confidence that Huntington Hospital is in a position of strength and poised to deliver compassionate and excellent health care to our community for decades to come.

We extend our most heartfelt thanks for being a meaningful part of the important work that is done by our hospital. We look forward to updating you as the search and selection process for Huntington Hospital’s next leader progresses.

Sincerely,

Paul L. H. Ouyang
Chairman, Board of Directors

Stephen A. Ralph
President and Chief Executive Officer

Click here to view a printable version of this letter.

Huntington Hospitaland Providence St. Joseph Health today announced a new partnership agreement to enhance regional contracting opportunities with health plans and self-insured, large group employers interested in offering a Southern California-wide provider network. The agreement will increase access to the broad spectrum of services provided by the two organizations, whose service areas are complementary, and ensure an abundance of choice for consumers in Southern California by leveraging shared expertise.

This is not a merger or acquisition — Huntington Hospitalwill remain independent of Providence St. Joseph Health with separate governance and operating structures. Under this agreement, Providence St. Joseph Health, with 12 hospitals, medical groups and numerous outpatient services across Los Angeles and Orange Counties, will contract exclusively with Huntington Hospital in the San Gabriel Valley for all acute care hospital and outpatient clinical services. The two organizations will work collaboratively to identify and implement improvement opportunities in the delivery of healthcare services in their respective regions.

“Huntington Hospital, along with our aligned physicians and ambulatory services, looks forward to working with Providence St. Joseph Health to provide excellent, cost-effective care to patients in the greater San Gabriel Valley,” said Stephen A. Ralph, President and CEO, Huntington Hospital. “Achieving our vision of creating community well-being through world-class health care means choosing partners who reflect our commitment to excellence, and Providence St. Joseph Health is nationally recognized for quality outcomes and patient safety.”

“We are seeking like-minded partners, who are interested in working with Providence St. Joseph Health to improve health in our communities,” said Erik G. Wexler, Chief Executive, Providence St. Joseph Health, Los Angeles region. “Huntington Hospital is the premier hospital in the San Gabriel Valley, and we are both committed to excellence, compassion and innovation in advancing health care.”

About Huntington Hospital
Huntington Hospital, www.huntingtonhospital.org, is a 519-bed not-for-profit hospital in Pasadena, California. We believe in caring for the physical, mental and social well-being of every individual in our community. For 125 years our outstanding doctors, nurses and staff have provided state-of-the-art medical care for each stage of life. Our nationally ranked services include neurology, orthopedics, maternal and child health, cardiovascular care, cancer care and advanced robotic surgery. As a teaching hospital, we are at the forefront of new advances in medicine. We are named among the top hospitals in the nation and nationally ranked in two specialties by U.S. News and World Report. As part of our non-profit mission, we provide significant benefits to the communities we serve, often in the form of free and part-pay hospital care for the uninsured and those with limited means. Learn more about us on Facebook www.facebook.com/huntingtonmemorialhospital and on Twitter @huntingtonnews.

About Providence St. Joseph Health
Providence St. Joseph Health is committed to providing for the needs of the communities we serve, with a special focus on those who are poor and vulnerable. Providence St. Joseph Health combines Providence Health & Services and St. Joseph Health and includes a diverse family of organizations. This includes more than 111,000 people who serve in 50 hospitals, 829 clinics, two health plans and hundreds of programs and services in Alaska, California, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas and Washington. This unique not-for-profit organization is transforming health care for the future through digital innovation, population health, mental health, specialty institutes and clinical quality. Each year Providence St. Joseph Health works to provide care and services where they are needed most, including investments in community benefit that in 2016 totaled more than $1.6 billion.