Cordova Grows Into the Top Post at Childrens Hospital

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It was a summer internship 30 years ago in Los Angeles County’s Department of Health Services that did it for Richard D. Cordova. He’d instantly found his calling in health management.


Today, as the president and chief executive of Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, he’s giving the future Richard Cordovas of the world their start. Among other duties, he is involved in fellowship programs and training for minority students.


He says his key responsibility is communicating accurately with hospital employees.


“As an executive I lay a lot of significance in creating a good leadership team, in selecting people who have talent and skill to carry out my vision and strategic plan for the hospital,” Cordova said.


He joined Los Angeles County’s health services system fresh out of college and worked his way up to an administrator of County USC Medical Center before he moved to San Francisco.


He was at San Francisco General Hospital for eight years, then worked at Kaiser Permanente from 1999 to 2004. Cordova joined Childrens Hospital in April 2005 as president and chief operating officer.


The hospital provides pediatric care and treats adolescents with illnesses that require sophisticated care.The hospital is in the expanding with a new 285-bed facility a project Cordova’s actively involved in.


He also meets regularly with hospital employees and walks the wards every day to motivate them. People want to jump on the bus and take the journey with you when you energize them,” Cordova said.


He has three daughters, and he expects the eldest to go into hospital administration services someday. Cordova met his wife, Janice, when they were both interning for L.A. County. Cordova said he spends a fortune on phone calls to his daughters the eldest Marisa is in New York and Vanessa and Jessica both live in San Diego. He likes to travel with his family. Their latest trip was to Croatia.

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