Home is where the heart is, the saying goes. So it was easy for Jim Santucci to return to the Coachella Valley almost two years ago as chief operating officer at Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs.
Santucci grew up in Desert Hot Springs, worked in his family’s Capri Italian Restaurant, and attended Palm Springs High School and College of the Desert. Before heading to Seattle with his MBA from University of Redlands, Santucci even trained as a clinical lab scientist at Desert Regional. “It was called Desert Hospital back then,” he says. A promotion to lab manager launched his healthcare administration career.
While in Seattle, his daughter alerted him to the chief operating officer position at Desert Regional. “When I left almost 20 years ago, it was a small community hospital,” Santucci says, noting most of his siblings, nieces and nephews, and two children were born there. “Now it is every bit an urban medical center. I was impressed with the scope and depth of services here.”
The hospital’s growth has dramatically expanded the opportunities for healthcare professionals, especially primary care doctors, nurses, lab techs, administrators, and facility and maintenance staff.
“I’m excited about the direction Desert Regional is going, working collaboratively with JFK Memorial Hospital in Indio and High Desert Medical Center in Joshua Tree to deliver care in a more coordinated fashion. It’s where healthcare needs to go: delivering care when patients need it, at the right site, for the right cost.”
VIDEO: Jim Santucci speaks on coming back to the Coachella Valley to work at Desert Regional Medical Center.