CHA Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center last week announced it had named veteran hospital executive Jamie Yoo as its new chief executive, effective April 6. He replaces Marcel Loh, who stepped down last October after two years at the helm.
Yoo, 38, had been serving as interim chief executive since Loh left to spend time on other health care-related work. Prior to that, Yoo was chief executive at Anaheim Global Medical Center and South Coast Global Medical Center in Santa Ana, and before that, was chief operating officer at Silver Lake Medical Center.
Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, which started nearly 100 years ago as Hollywood Hospital, was purchased in 2004 by Seoul, Korea-based CHA Health Systems; at the time, it was the only Korean-owned general hospital in California.
“Jamie Yoo has a deep understanding of healthcare and brings with him strategic planning experience, operational excellence, and cultivating teams that deliver results,” said Yongseok Kim, CEO at CHA Health Systems. “His passion for healthcare and strategic vision make him the perfect fit for CHA HPMC.”
Yoo’s appointment comes at a pivotal time for the hospital. As interim chief executive, he had to deal with soaring costs facing all California hospitals, including the higher wage rates commanded by travel nurses and rising costs for pharmaceuticals and other supplies.
According to the announcement, he helped institute improvements to case management, length of stay and hospital-wide throughput. All this while also overseeing the construction of a new five-story, 175,000-square-foot, patient tower slated to open next year.
