Healthcare & Delivery
Healthcare and medicine is a significant and growing innovation sector in the Inland Empire. This sector includes teaching hospitals, schools of medicine, and other healthcare providers.
The Riverside University Health System (RUHS) – Medical Center was founded in 1893, the same year Riverside County was established. Loma Linda University also was established around this time, in 1905. Beginning as a medical school for Seventh-Day Adventists, LLU has expanded and grown into a notable medical center and research institution. UC Riverside is also involved in healthcare research and teaching. The UCR School of Medicine was built on the foundation of the former UCR/UCLA Thomas Haider Program in Biomedical Sciences, which had been in place since 1974. The school was established as part of an effort to address the serious doctor shortage in the Inland Empire, enrolling its first students in 2013.
In terms of healthcare delivery, the Inland Empire Health Plan or IEHP, has been instrumental in the region in facilitating healthcare access and health education. IEHP was created in 1996 to assist MediCal members in the Inland Empire. IEHP has been recognized locally and nationally for innovation, excellence, and providing access to care for low-income residents in the Inland Empire.
Recent Sector Highlights
SBTCA’s “Right Care, Right Time” Emergency Nurse Communication Program is not only innovative for the region, it’s the first of its kind in the state. A common issue in healthcare and healthcare delivery is the tension between limited hospital/ambulatory capacity and a timely 911 emergency response. SBTCA created a new and innovative system that connects 911 callers that may not need ambulatory care to registered nurses that can help address the emergency. Local data show that not all 911 calls need an ambulatory response, and this new system increases both efficiency and care, freeing up ambulances for emergencies that need an ambulatory response.
Learn more: https://www.gosbcta.com/emergency-communications-nurse-system/
Loma Linda University School of Nursing will receive $1 million in student awards for Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioners (PMHNP) who wish to work in the Inland Empire following graduation as a PMHNP. The grant from the Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP) is the second consecutive such grant from IEHP and aims to address the shortage of psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners in clinics serving the underserved in the region through this award program.