Please provide a brief background of your training and practice setting and years in practice.
I am a Board Certified Hospice and Palliative Care Specialist with Board Certifications in Geriatrics and Family Medicine. I earned my Medical Degree from Western University of Health Sciences and have been in practice since 1994 providing care for hospice patients in the Long Term Care setting, Assisted Living and homes. I am currently the Palliative Program Director at HOAG Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach and Irvine. In this role, I provide administrative and medical services in the inpatient setting as well as developing HOAG’s outpatient palliative clinical program.

Prior to this role, I was the Medical Director of Geriatrics and Palliative Care Services at Monarch HealthCare for over 5 years. During my tenure, I developed a post-acute service in the Skilled Nursing Facility settings through consolidation of facilities and hiring full-time SNFists and NPs to care for Monarch’s 30,000 Seniors. In addition, I implemented a training program for mid-career Physicians in the art of Hospice and Palliative Medicine through UC Irvine, and am in the development phase of an outpatient palliative clinical service.

I am also a volunteer Assistant Clinical Professor at UCI and co-chair the Orange County POLST Coalition since 2009.

What are you passionate about in long term care? How are you pursuing your passion?
My motivation of going into medicine was essentially to take care of people’s pain & suffering, and hospice and palliative medicine encapsulated my purpose. The long term care setting in my mind was a home for seriously ill people who were admitted, to be cared for until they died. I discovered that there are many good and kind caregivers who do jobs that most people wouldn’t want to do, while being interrupted in their tasks often with distressed family members and irate Physicians who do not understand the nursing home environment with its boundless rules and regulations. The nursing home is an environment that most physicians have never practiced in and they often see it as a place to send people to after an acute hospital. They don’t know what happens to these patients until the patients return to their door in the hospital. Through the guidance of many Geriatrician mentors that I have had over the years, I have come to recognize and embrace the vision that long term care medicine is not an afterthought, but rather an important element in the health care continuum. As Physicians, we strive not only to improve the health care experience of the patients entrusted in our care, but also to advance the health care system process that we practice in a cost conscious way. The nursing home is a rightful and necessary partner to hospitals, medical groups, insurance companies in the era of healthcare reform.

What advice would you give to a new graduate contemplating a career in long term care? 
Know yourself, your professional dream and passion, and seek out mentors and colleagues who share your dream and passion.

What additional training do you wish you had that may help with your current practice?
I am constantly learning and updating myself. Time is the only thing I wish I had more of.

How has CALTCM impacted your practice?
I have been a member of CALTCM for the past 14 years and have been the recipient of the fruits of wisdom of clinician leaders who have paved the road for me and leading by example. I have been given the opportunity to participate in Leadership and Management Seminars and have incorporated this learning into my area of impact. I am honored to serve on the BOD of CALTCM. For the accolades that I have received, truly, the tributes belong to my mentors and CALTCM leadership.