California Emergency Physicians Medical Group Awarded Emergency Department Staffing Contract in Coachella Valley.

Business Editors/Health & Medical Writers

OAKLAND, Calif--(BW HealthWire)--Jan. 8, 2002

California Emergency Physicians (CEP) Medical Group, Oakland, Calif, has announced that it has been awarded the Emergency Department management and staffing contract at Desert Regional Medical Center (DRMC), which is part of Tenet HealthSystem. Located in Palm Springs, Calif., DRMC is the sixth Tenet hospital in California to contract with CEP for physician services in the Emergency Department.

Opened in 1951, DRMC is one of the region's largest medical facilities and has honed its excellent reputation by providing superior customer service and quality of care. The Emergency Department includes a Level II Trauma Center -- Coachella Valley's only designated Trauma Center -- Fast Track unit, onsite lab, full trauma resuscitation area with satellite blood bank, and state-of-the-art information technology systems including a comprehensive patient tracking system. DRMC is a 388-bed facility with an ED patient volume of 45,000 per year.

"CEP is pleased to announce the Emergency Department contract with DRMC. By combining our Board Certified physicians and patient safety programs with their excellent nursing staff, we expect this leading edge Emergency Department to reach unprecedented levels of excellence," said Ted Kloth, MD, CEP's Vice President of Business Development.

"This is our fourth major Emergency Department physician contract this year, and CEP continues to be the leader in providing emergency physician services to California hospitals. Our ability to respond to our client hospital's needs is unmatched by other emergency physician groups, big or small," said Wesley A. Curry, MD, President of CEP. "We look forward to a long, mutually satisfactory relationship with Desert Regional Medical Center."

DRMC's hospital administrators and governing board are equally enthusiastic to CEP staffing the Emergency Department.

"We reviewed many options before selecting CEP," stated Truman L. Gates, CEO at DRMC. "I feel very good about having them on board and look forward to working with such an experienced ER company."

CEP was founded in 1975 and is the leading provider of physician staffing and management services for Emergency Departments and Ambulatory Care Centers in California. CEP is the largest democratic physician group in the country dedicated to the independent practice of emergency medicine. To date, CEP includes more than 800 providers, 47 Emergency Departments, and 20 Ambulatory Care Centers -- all providing care to an estimated 1.7 million patients each year. Approximately one out of every seven patients is treated at a CEP-contracted site. For more information on CEP visit their website at www.cep.com.