Like many business leaders in the desert, Ann Mostofi, MSN, RN was a visitor to the Coachella Valley before she became a resident. The Chicagoan came for a conference, bought a second home, and eventually joined the executive team at Eisenhower Medical Center, the 487-bed general acute care hospital in Rancho Mirage.
“Six years ago my husband had a total hip replacement,” she says. “He decided that it wouldn’t be fun to stay in Chicago that winter, because he couldn’t go out on the icy sidewalks and streets. So he spent the winter here, and he got out every day and walked and exercised. But I couldn’t get him back home. He didn’t want to come back, and I found myself a Midwest widow. So I was very fortunate that a position opened at Eisenhower Medical Center.”
Mostofi found that healthcare offers great opportunities for medical and non-medical professionals throughout the hospital, and she became an advocate for recruiting and training the best in their fields.
“Healthcare services are based upon the functions of a team to meet the many needs of a patient,” she says. “In that team the nurse plays a vital role, coordinating care for the patients and serving as a liaison between the physician and all other members of the healthcare team. So we’re especially proud to have been designated as a Magnet® center [by the American Nurses Credentialing Center].”
Magnet recognition is the most prestigious distinction a healthcare organization can receive in nursing; fewer than 7 percent of U.S. hospitals have the designation. “Magnet organizations are able to draw that workforce that enables everyone to provide excellent patient care.”
EMC also serves as a training site for students enrolled in the nursing programs at College of the Desert and CSU San Bernardino’s Palm Desert Campus, and it provides mentorship to younger students interested in healthcare careers.
“Nursing is becoming ever more complex,” Mostofi says. “Our goal at Eisenhower is for 100 percent of our nursing staff to have at least a bachelor’s degree in nursing.”
VIDEO: Ann Mostofi, Vice President, Health Care Services, Eisenhower Medical Center