Ridgecrest Regional Hospital’s Cancer Center Celebrates Its One Year Anniversary With Special Event And Check Presentation From Ridgecrest Cinemas

PRESS RELEASE

Contact:
Jayde Glenn, Marketing Director, 760-499-3910, jayde.glenn@rrh.org

For Immediate Release

Monday, November 5, 2018, RIDGECREST, California: On Monday, October 29, 2018, Ridgecrest Regional Hospital held an event at the SpringHill Suites in Ridgecrest to celebrate the one year anniversary of the hospital’s Cancer Center launch. The event was attended by hospital staff, members from the local community, as well as patients, past and present.

The event was led by Shantell Utley, MSN, BSN, RN, Clinical Manager Outpatient Pavilion and Cancer Center, with speakers including, RRH CEO Jim Suver, Scott Christiansen, M.D. of the UC Davis Cancer Care Network, RRH Executive Board Chair Bud Haslam and RRH Medical Oncologist and Hematologist Everard Hughes M.D. A moment of silence was led by RN Navigator Vicky Rios to commemorate the passing of patients.

A check presentation was made to the hospital’s Development Foundation by representatives Amanda Diaz and Kelly Walden of Ridgecrest Cinemas. The money was raised by Ridgecrest Cinemas donating $1 from every large popcorn sale throughout October for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

“We have been striving for new ways to reconnect with the community and really shed light on the positive changes and growth locally, said Diaz. “Kelly and I knew Ridgecrest Cinemas wanted to focus on Breast Cancer Awareness month and when approaching Shantell, we were pleased to find out we had a Cancer Center right here on our doorstep in Ridgecrest! In doing the October promotion, we found others who were not aware of this and felt inspired to be helping raise local resource awareness on top of our original promotion to fund patient transportation for extended services. It was a community effort as well, and we can't thank our customers enough for purchasing the pink tub of popcorn to help us exceed our goal donation!”

Utley added, “The Cancer Center is really a collaborative effort of the hospital and the community. I am so grateful and appreciate that Ridgecrest Cinemas has chosen to support us and help to provide care for our community. Providing cancer care locally is such an important need in our community and to have local businesses step up and help keep it growing, is what makes Ridgecrest so special. What is even more special to me is that Amanda reached out to me to see how she could help. She was not asked, she wanted to give back and help. That is amazing!”

The event also marked one year into Ridgecrest Regional Hospital’s affiliation with the UC Davis Health Cancer Care Network. The affiliation links RRH patients with a multi-disciplinary, university-based cancer network. Although patients will see the medical oncologist Everard Hughes M.D., based here in Ridgecrest, the physician is connected through virtual tumor board technology to UC Davis’ treatment and research team and has regular discussions with the university’s extended network of cancer specialists.

With the help of advanced technology at RRH and at UC Davis, the oncology team can transfer pathology slides almost instantaneously for further diagnosis. RRH also benefits by gaining the support, insights and learning from other similar-sized cancer centers affiliated with UC Davis, including Rideout Cancer Center in Marysville, Mercy UC Davis Cancer Center in Merced, AIS Cancer Center in Bakersfield, Gene Upshaw Memorial Tahoe Forest Cancer Center and the South Lake Tahoe Barton Memorial Hospital. With this affiliation, RRH’s standard of cancer care evolves with everyone, in spite of being in a rural area. For more information please visit rrh.org/cancercenter.

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Notes to Editors:

About Ridgecrest Regional Hospital

Ridgecrest Regional Hospital is a nonprofit, full service, acute care hospital, accredited by DNV Healthcare. Located in Ridgecrest, California, it was founded in 1945 by Dr. Thomas A. Drummond, who realized the need for medical care, to support the then recently established Naval Ordnance Test Station. Today, RRH continues as the only regional healthcare system providing a variety of services to the rural communities of the Southern Sierra. Our Vision is to be a leader with other healthcare providers in offering the highest quality, patient-centered, affordable healthcare and wellness services to the people of our service area.

The RRH health system currently consists of 78 active medical staff members and advanced practice professionals, offering multi-specialty healthcare and state-of-the-art facilities, including Gastroenterology Lab, Cardiology, Dermatology, Orthopedics, Pediatrics and an accredited Sleep Lab, to name a few. The hospital also offers a Cancer Center, as part of an ongoing oncology affiliation with UC Davis Health Cancer Care Network, and is one of only a number of hospitals across the country to install FDA-approved state-of-the-art automated breast screening ultrasound technology in the Women’s Imaging Department, clinically proven to increase cancer detection by 35.7%. The hospital has been awarded the ACR gold seal of accreditation in Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, representing the highest level of image quality and patient safety and the Emergency Department has been designated by Kern County Public Health, as a Level IV trauma center, providing stabilization and advanced trauma life support.

Future plans include a new Emergency Room, new helipad for air ambulance services and construction is currently underway for the relocation of the South Medical Plaza. For more information, visit us at: rrh.org/ and Facebook.com/RidgecrestRegionalHospital.