MemorialCare Medical Centers CEO Barry Arbuckle Elected Chair of California Hospital A...( LONG BEACH and HUNTINGTON BEACH C...),Health

LONG BEACH and HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif., Feb. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Barry Arbuckle, Ph.D. has been elected 2008 chair of the California Hospital Association (CHA) Board of Trustees. Dr. Arbuckle is president and CEO of MemorialCare Medical Centers, a health care system with six hospitals in Los Angeles and Orange counties and headquartered in Huntington Beach and Long Beach, CA.

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"I am honored to serve as chair of CHA and look forward to advancing our mission to improve access to quality, cost-effective health care services for Californians," says Dr. Arbuckle, who served as secretary-treasurer of the CHA Board in 2006 and chair-elect in 2007. "CHA is committed to remain open to divergent opinions, govern based on consensus building and most importantly, to never lose sight of the local needs of our members and the communities they serve in our nation's largest and most diverse state."

Dr. Arbuckle has been involved this past year in the debate over health care reform and believes CHA is "front and center" in this important policy discussion. "With the challenges California hospitals face with skyrocketing costs to provide care, inadequate reimbursement and the largest uninsured population in the U.S., it's no surprise CHA is in the forefront of health reform," he notes.

During Dr. Arbuckle's tenure as president and chief executive officer at MemorialCare Medical Centers, the health system has grown in prominence regionally and nationally. Honors include MemorialCare named Top Leadership Team in the Country by HealthLeaders; ranking as one of Verispan's Top 100 Integrated Systems in America; selected one of the best governed hospital systems in the U.S. by The Governance Institute; and listed among the 100 Most Wired Hospitals and Health Systems by Hospitals & Health Networks. During the last yea
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