The Prime Story
The seeds of Prime Healthcare’s success were first sown in the High
Desert region of Southern California where
Dr. Prem Reddy began practicing medicine in the 1980s. It was there Dr. Reddy built Prime
Healthcare’s flagship facility, Desert Valley Hospital, to serve
the community. Desert Valley Hospital has been recognized as a Top 100
Hospital in the nation six times.
Desert Valley Hospital was sold to another corporation for a few years,
and immediately began faltering. In 2001, Dr. Reddy formed Prime Healthcare
Services to re-purchase the hospital, rescuing it from bankruptcy and
setting the standard for quality healthcare that continues throughout
the hospital network to this day. Prime Healthcare's motto is "Saving
Hospitals, Saving Jobs, Saving Lives" which the company continues
to do as it grows.
From the lessons learned during the transformation of Desert Valley Hospital,
Prime Healthcare’s model was established and now leads to the rescue
and transformation of financially struggling community hospitals across
the country. Prime Heathcare is nationally recognized for award-winning
quality care and has been named a Top 10 and Top 15 Health Systemby Fortune/IBM
Watson Health. Its hospitals have also been named among the nation’s
best as ”100 Top hospitals” 58 times by Fortune/IBM Watson
Health and have received more Patient Safety Excellence Awards from Healthgrades
than any other health system for seven consecutive years (2016-2022).
Three years after the formation of Prime Healthcare, the company purchased
the second hospital in the family, Chino Valley Medical Center, when Dr.
Reddy was asked to save the hospital from bankruptcy. Growth continued
throughout the early 2000s, and in recent years has increased pace as
the shifting healthcare landscape endangered more and more small community
hospitals, threatening to close them without financial support. To date,
Prime has invested more than $1.7 billion in capital improvements for
its hospitals since 2005.
Prime Healthcare has expanded to 45 hospitals in 14 states across the country.
Every hospital acquired in financial distress has been transformed and
are now vital community assets. Our experienced turnaround team has a
record of success in finding operational efficiencies and minimizing bureaucracy
to create an efficient healthcare delivery model. Our decentralized structure
allows local leadership to make the right choices for their community,
while benefiting from corporate guidance and support.
Read the turnaround stories of a few of Prime’s hospitals
See a complete timeline of Prime's history
A Brief Timeline of Prime Healthcare
1994
Dr. Reddy builds Desert Valley Hospital, an 83-bed acute care hospital
in Victorville, California
2001
Dr. Reddy founds Prime Healthcare Services, Inc. to repurchase Desert Valley
Hospital, which had been sold to another group
2004
Prime Healthcare acquires its second hospital, Chino Valley Medical Center
in California
2008
Prime Healthcare earns “10 Top Health Systems” by Truven
2011
Prime Healthcare completes first acquisition outside California with Harlingen
Medical Center in Texas
2020
Prime Healthcare acquires St. Francis Medical Center in California