Ridgecrest Regional Hospital Hosts Community Forum To Discuss Concerns Over An Increase In Child Abuse
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- Written By: RRH
PRESS RELEASE
Contact:
Jayde Glenn, Marketing Director, 760-499-3910, jayde.glenn@rrh.org
For Immediate Release
Thursday, September, 6 2018, RIDGECREST, California: On Thursday, August 29, 2018 Ridgecrest Regional Hospital hosted a forum on child abuse at the Marriott Hotel Conference Center. The event was held in response to a growing concern in the organization and the wider community that serious child abuse is on the rise in Ridgecrest.
Facilitated by Celia Mills, Administrator of Care Coordination and Community Health at Ridgecrest Regional Hospital, the forum was attended by representatives from the hospital, as well as Ridgecrest Police Department, Sierra Sands Unified School District, Cerro Coso Community College, Child Protective Services and the All Faith Chapel. It was an opportunity to bring different community resources together to determine the problem and explore potential solutions.
City of Ridgecrest Mayor, Peggy Breeden said: “This group of caring, dedicated people are searching for answers and solutions to a difficult situation in the Valley - child abuse. There will be no easy answers found, but there will be none found unless we start here and now. They are doing just that!”
James Suver, CEO of Ridgecrest Regional Hospital added: “I am very interested in working collaboratively with the stakeholders in our community to protect our children and provide support for good parenting. In cases of child abuse, it is often too late once the child comes to the emergency room department. We as a community cannot allow this upward trend to continue”.
“According to 23 ABC News (Bakersfield)*, 45 children have died since 2009 from abuse or neglect, and we are now recently seeing similar reports in Ridgecrest, said Mills. “Children under the age of 3 are the most vulnerable and it is imperative that we protect these and all the children in our community.”
Suspected child abuse or neglect should be reported via the Child Abuse Hotline for Ridgecrest on (760) 375-6049 (24 hours per day, 7 days per week). For all emergencies call 911.
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 advance 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.
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