Newly-named Salinas Valley Health CEO committed to facing challenges
SALINAS – Dr. Allen Radner, who joined the medical staff of Salinas Valley Health 30 years ago, was named president and CEO of the integrated network of health care programs, services and facilities in Salinas last week, and says he is committed to providing quality care, locally delivered, to everyone.
Radner“It has been a privilege to be a part of this organization for 30 years and to work with a team of talented, dedicated and compassionate people serving our patients, families and community every day,” said Radner in an email. “I am honored the Board of Directors selected me as the seventh president/CEO to lead Salinas Valley Health. I’m incredibly grateful for the support I’ve received during my six months in the interim role and look forward to working with our community to make the most of the opportunities before us.”
The Board announced Radner’s permanent appointment to the position in which he has been serving in an interim role after a special meeting held June 6.
“The Board of Directors will make it official at the June 27 Board of Directors meeting,” said Salinas Valley Health spokesperson Karina Rusk.
Radner becomes the seventh leader of Salinas Valley Health, which was first established in 1953 as Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital. He succeeds previous President and CEO Pete Delgado following Delgado’s announcement in November that he was retiring after serving in the position for more than a decade.
“I’ve served on the executive team at Salinas Valley Health for the past 10 years and take pride in what we have accomplished for the community serving as CEO of Salinas Valley Health Medical Clinic since 2019,” said Radner. “We have been able to recruit and align physicians to grow an impressive network of primary and specialty clinics that have significantly increased access to care for people in our region. We have gone from serving just a few hundred patients to having more than 600,000 patient encounters every year in our clinics.”
Over the past two decades, Radner has played a role at Salinas Valley Health expanding access to care and addressing critical and cultural community health needs, according to Salinas Valley Health. He has been instrumental in helping achieve and maintain exceptional patient safety and clinical quality metrics.
“Health care is facing a very challenging environment right now – especially in Monterey County where 75% of our population are government insured and the reimbursements rates don’t cover the costs of actually providing the care,” said Radner. “I believe access to quality care is critical which is why I led an effort at Salinas Valley Health to reach a solution for teachers and educators covered by (Municipalities, Colleges, Schools Insurance Group). They are now able to access our clinic and Medical Center services under their lowest cost insurance plan with no increase in their monthly premiums.”
Radner said great strides have also been made seizing opportunities to better serve the community with services and outreach programs focused on prevention and engaging families in their health and wellness. He said Blue Zones Project Monterey County, which Salinas Valley Health co-sponsored with Taylor Farms and Montage Health, is one example.
“Salinas Valley Health also has some important needs and opportunities to expand our own infrastructure to better serve our growing and diverse population,” said Radner. “I’m excited to explore those possibilities with our community partners and the community itself.”
Salinas Valley Health Board of Directors President Victor Rey said the decision was made after an extensive process where the public district hospital did its due diligence to conduct a thorough search.
In November, the Board hired recruitment firm WittKieffer to assist in the process along with the Board’s CEO Search Committee which consisted of diverse community stakeholders.
Rey said the Board feels confident about its selection process and its final decision in determining Radner as the most qualified leader to meet its ambitious goals moving forward.
“Salinas Valley Health has always been known for the quality of care it delivers and it remains a cornerstone of my focus on operations as the new president/CEO,” said Radner. “We’re fortunate to have an exceptional staff who embrace a culture of quality and the deliberate actions required on a daily basis.”
Radner pointed out that the Salinas Valley Health team is why it is nationally recognized for quality care with a four-star Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services rating, 10 consecutive patient safety “A” grades from Leapfrog Group and have earned Magnet Recognition for nursing excellence, a gold standard achieved by less than 10% of hospitals across the country.
“Many people may be surprised to learn about the long history of clinical trials and research that takes place at Salinas Valley Health,” said Radner. “Past research has given us many of the advanced treatments we utilize today and that cycle of investing time and talent in clinical trials benefit individual patients, our community and the field of medical knowledge.”
Radner said the research gives the local community access to studies that otherwise would require travel to larger urban areas. As part of a group of national research organizations, Salinas Valley Health is also the first to know about new protocols and can offer them right here, close to home.
“I’m grateful for the many partnerships and collaborations we have throughout the community. Those ties grew even stronger during COVID as we all fought a common threat and faced it together,” said Radner. “When the vaccines first came out, I was the first person in Monterey County to roll up my sleeve to get vaccinated. As an infectious disease specialist, I wanted to lead by example and let the community and our Medical Center staff know that the vaccines were the safest and most effective way to minimize the risk of serious illness and death. That was a very difficult time and because we worked together, we fared far better than most populations nationwide and in California. I am in awe of the determination and resiliency our staff displayed.”
Allen Radner, MD earned his medical degree from Rush Medical College in Chicago, completed an internal medicine internship and residency at the University of California, San Diego and continued on to complete his infectious diseases fellowship at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, according to Salinas Valley Health. He is board-certified in internal medicine and infectious diseases by the American Board of Internal Medicine.
Radner joined the medical staff of Salinas Valley Health in 1994, and has held various leadership positions at Salinas Valley Health, Natividad Medical Center and Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula. Radner joined the executive team at Salinas Valley Health in August 2013, as chief medical officer. In 2019, he was named CEO of Salinas Valley Health Clinics.
Radner also serves as clinical professor, Department of Family and Community Medicine for the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, medical director of the Natividad Immunodeficiency and Infectious Diseases Clinic, and as Monterey County Tuberculosis Controller.
“Salinas Valley Health has played an important role in the health of our community for more than seven decades. In 1953, a group of agricultural leaders and business philanthropists had a vision to bring state-of-the-art, quality health care to the people of the region,” said Radner. “Today, we are still owned and operated by the people of the district with a publicly-elected Board of Directors. Our commitment to provide quality care, locally delivered, to everyone is as strong now as it was when we first opened our doors. I personally take pride in that legacy and take the responsibility seriously.”
