A Bold Investment in Emergency Care

Above: The welcoming new ED entrance will streamline patients’ check-in.

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Even so, Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center Torrance continues to set the standard for excellence. The hospital has earned Newsweek’s World’s Best Hospital designation for seven consecutive years and has been recognized by U.S. News & World Report as one of California’s best hospitals. At the heart of this award-winning hospital, the ED plays a critical role in delivering lifesaving care every day.

The ED is more than a point of entry. It’s a hub for specialized, high-acuity care. Providence Little Company of Mary Torrance is among the fastest of the 17 accredited Advanced Comprehensive Stroke Centers in the region, with most stroke patients receiving clot-busting medications within an hour of arrival. It is also a designated STEMI (ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction) Receiving Center for patients experiencing heart attacks, coordinating with paramedics to ensure immediate intervention by the cardiac care team.

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PHYSICIANS GIVING BACK

Expanding the ED has long been a priority of hospital leadership, but the challenge is twofold. First, the hospital is limited by property boundaries. Second, construction and renovation are expensive. To increase capacity from the current 29 to the desired 48 beds and expand square footage to nearly 20,000 square feet will require a $45 million investment, with completion anticipated for 2029.

Early funding for this project is coming from an extraordinary source: the physicians themselves. Emergency Specialist Physicians Medical Associates (ESPMA), the group that serves the medical center exclusively, is making a substantial philanthropic commitment through Providence Little Company of Mary Foundation to help fuel this transformation.

“ESPMA’s generosity sets the tone for what’s possible,” says Nate Mabry, chief administrative officer at Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Centers in Torrance and San Pedro. “This project will strengthen emergency care for every patient who walks through our doors, and it begins with those who know this work best.”

Above: The reinvention of the ED is focused on growing the capacity for patient visits.

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A LEGACY OF LEADERSHIP

The three ESPMA physicians who are spearheading the fundraising—Bao Duong, MD, Robert Chavez, MD, and Jorge Vournas, MD—are all Southern California natives who have dedicated a combined total of 64 years of service to the South Bay.

“This project is near and dear to our hearts,” says Dr. Duong, ESPMA managing partner and co-director of the ED’s advanced practice program. “We are all committed to the community.”

Dr. Chavez, ESPMA managing partner and chief financial officer, notes that the need for ED capacity is growing faster than ever. “A lot of care has gotten pushed to the front end of the process,” he says, explaining that’s due to reductions in patients’ health insurance coverage. The ED currently absorbs between $3 million and $4 million a year in unpaid or unreimbursed services for the 70,000 patients who enter its doors.

Like his colleagues, Dr. Vournas is eager for the improved flow of the reimagined facility. “We’re constantly working on our own efficiency,” says Dr. Vournas, ESPMA managing partner and ED medical director since 2014. “This design will allow us to provide even better care at a higher level.”

A new era of emergency care

Big changes are coming to Little Company of Mary Torrance’s ED. It is designed with one goal in mind: delivering faster, safer and more compassionate care. Today, the ED relies on a secondary spillover space during peak times, but soon that will be history. By relocating the on-site pharmacy upstairs, the ED will reclaim valuable ground-level space and transform into one unified, efficient hub.

The reimagined ED will feature larger treatment areas, rapid-care zones, expanded access to diagnostic imaging, dedicated isolation and behavioral health rooms, a larger waiting area and an outdoor healing garden. Patients will also benefit from a welcoming new entrance that’s easier to access, streamlined registration and improved aesthetics that promote healing inside and out.

With an anticipated increase in patient volume of at least 10,000 people a year, greater capacity in the reception area is critical for patients’ and their companions’ comfort. The new rapid-care zone will speed up treatment for everyone by quickly moving non-emergency patients into their own care path.

The healing garden will offer patients, their companions and medical staff a place to sit and relax in a serene, open-air landscape away from the busy reception area.

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BUILDING THE FUTURE TOGETHER

With a strong focus on making Providence Little Company of Mary the best place to give and receive care, the ESPMA physicians and hospital leadership believe this transformation will also benefit medical staff and caregivers by creating a seamless entry-to-treatment pathway. That commitment to excellence is why ESPMA physicians have stepped forward with their own dollars to help make it happen.

“Every year we make it a priority to volunteer our time and to donate; that’s the legacy of ESPMA from its inception,” says Dr. Chavez. “All of us live in the community, so we want the best possible care for our neighbors.”

“Philanthropy is the catalyst that turns vision into reality,” says Melissa Coleman, president and chief philanthropy officer of Providence Little Company of Mary Foundation. “The commitment from our emergency physicians is extraordinary, and we invite our community to join us in building the future of emergency care in the South Bay.”

Getting the project off the drawing board and underway was possible because of the exemplary generosity of ESPMA. But that’s just the beginning of the effort to bring a new ED to life. To learn more about the Torrance ED Reimagined Campaign, please call 310-713-3119.

Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Centers San Pedro & Torrance

844-510-HEAL (4325)  |  providence.org/southbay  |  IG: @providencecalifornia

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