Did you know that Kern Medical Center is turning 150 years old? Russell Judd, CEO of KMC and fellow Rotarian of Downtown, retraced our county hospital journey from being just a small hut to be an acute care teaching center with 222 beds, offering the only advanced trauma care between Fresno and Los Angeles. KMC moved a few times around the Bakersfield area during the course of its life to finally land in its today’s known location in 1920.
In 2016, KMC transitioned from being owned and operated by the County of Kern to be administered by a Hospital Authority, enabling it to better serve patients as a safety net provider, academic training center, and leader in trauma and specialty services. Kern Medical cares for 10,000 inpatients and 125,000 clinic patients a year. It is the community’s only academic teaching hospital with over 200 medical students, physician residents, and fellows undergoing training in eight residency and fellowship programs.
Kern Medical now boasts national popularity amongst medical personnel for its valuable training, and, thanks to the new leadership-team headed by Russell, KMC billing department has improved and the “checkbook” is now positively balanced. This is a good news to taxpayers!
It’s remarkable to hear testimonies of leaders completely changing the trajectory of indispensable community organizations like Kern Medical. Mr Judd is an inspiring leader and North Rotary Club vividly demonstrated its approval on behalf of Kern’s residents.: Well done fellow Rotarian, Russell Judd!.