Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian named Robert Braithwaite as president and chief executive officer of the renowned network of hospitals and community-based health care centers throughout Orange County. Braithwaite, who joined the company in 1992 and most recently served as its chief operating officer, succeeds Dr. Richard Afable as president and CEO. Braithwaite joined Hoag in 1992 as administrative resident. Throughout his tenure, he has served in key management positions for Hoag's network of hospitals and community urgent care centers including as chief administrator for Hoag Irvine, which opened in September 2010. From 2009 until his appointment as president and CEO Braithwaite was chief operating officer of Hoag's entire health care network.

St. Joseph Health System and Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian announced plans for a new regional health care affiliation which will take bold, innovative measures to transform health care delivery, ultimately becoming a model for addressing some of the biggest challenges in American health care. The organizations intend to form an integrated regional health system including their respective Southern California hospitals, an expansive physician network, and numerous outpatient and urgent care facilities in Orange County and the High Desert. Their shared vision includes taking action to fix fragmented systems of care, greatly improve access for the underserved, and deliver on the goal of making the region among the healthiest in the country. Specifically, the health system leaders have identified as part of their vision: Clinicians will work together to achieve better clinical outcomes, make care more efficient and improve the overall patient experience, Quality-focused, coordinated programs that will address care for the poor and underserved and fill gaps that have widened under present-day economic realities, a focus on care extending beyond the acute hospital setting, including wellness, prevention programs, long-term care, and palliation of suffering, specialized health services that would otherwise require treatment outside the community, opportunities for partnerships with other health care participants, both traditional and non-traditional. Under the affiliation, Hoag and St. Joseph Health will retain their individual identities and faith affiliations Presbyterian and Catholic, respectively.

Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian announced the opening of advanced cardiac operating suites. The Bob and Marjie Bennett Hybrid Surgical Suite is named in honor of the Newport Beach couple whose $2 million donation provided the catalyst for the facility. The hybrid cardiovascular operating room includes a custom robot -- Siemens' Artis Zeego robotic imaging system with 3D and 4D reconstruction software -- which is used to image blood vessels, tissue and organs during cardiac surgery, angioplasty and endovascular procedures. As further evidence of Heart and Vascular Institute's leading national role in cardiovascular care, the hospital recently became one of a select number of sites in the United States to treat patients with the recently FDA-approved Edwards SAPIEN Transcatheter Aortic Heart Valve. This treatment option provides an important therapy for patients with severe, symptomatic native aortic valve stenosis who are not candidates for traditional surgical replacement. Hoag is the only hospital in Orange County to offer this new therapy to patients. The operating room's benefactors said they were pleased to have a role in bringing one of the nation's best cardiac care facilities to Newport Beach's premier hospital.