Dr. Armand Dorian Talks About Providing High-Quality Care at USC Verdugo Hills Hospital

Rod Hanners, CEO of Keck Medicine of USC, talks with the CEO of USC Verdugo Hills Hospital.

“Conversations with Rod” is a video series featuring Rod Hanners, CEO of Keck Medicine of USC, talking with Keck Medicine doctors about our innovative medical care and research. In this video, Hanners sat down with Armand Dorian, MD, CEO of USC Verdugo Hills Hospital (USC-VHH), a part of Keck Medicine’s health system, to discuss how we deliver high-quality medical care to patients in Glendale, La Cañada Flintridge and the surrounding communities. Watch the full video below — or read excerpts from their conversation.

Interview Excerpts

What should people know about the emergency department at USC-VHH?

Armand Dorian, MD: The difference that we’ve been able to provide at USC-VHH is that we have the highest level, board-certified professors of emergency medicine. The individuals who are teaching all the emergency room physicians, they are there waiting to serve our [USC-VHH] community. They’re going to be treating you with the latest information, great technology, and when there is something that needs a higher level of care, they’re able to access the [Keck Medicine] system and deliver that.

What impresses you most about your colleagues at USC-VHH?

AD: The difference that we’ve been able to provide at USC-VHH is that we have the highest level, board-certified professors of emergency medicine. The individuals who are teaching all the emergency room physicians, they are there waiting to serve our [USC-VHH] community. They’re going to be treating you with the latest information, great technology, and when there is something that needs a higher level of care, they’re able to access the [Keck Medicine] system and deliver that.

I ended up choosing to work at USC-VHH because of the love that the people who work there had for their community and for what they did. Every single individual at USC-VHH, when they come to work — and this has become my motto — we do two things. Every day when you drive to work, you’re just going to do two things: You’re there to help our patients, and you’re there to help our people.

What has changed at USC-VHH over the past seven years?

AD: A lot has changed. USC-VHH is almost at its 50th anniversary. It was really created to serve the community, by the community, and it was funded by the community. That community tie, as well as passionate physicians and nurses, really kept it going for many years. But with the changes in health care, it needed support and it was not going to survive on its own. In that quest of who we could best partner with, the best of all worlds happened — being a part of Keck Medicine was a dream come true because we were able to bring [together] academic expertise with excellent leadership.

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