Members of the La Cañada Flintridge and Glendale communities gathered at the USC Verdugo Hills Hospital recently to look into the future of the medical enterprise, at the Keck Medicine of USC San Gabriel Valley Regional Reception.

The March 22 event, one of five regional gatherings, was created to engage alumni, parents, grateful patients and friends, while introducing the new Keck Medicine leadership and highlighting the exciting academic medical research, teaching and patient care taking place at Keck Medicine.

Keith Hobbs, CEO of USC-VHH, hosted the event, welcoming all the attendees, including Mary Hovagimian, district representative for U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff.

Tom Jackiewicz, MPH, senior vice president and CEO of Keck Medicine, provided a positive update on the medical enterprise. He praised the success at USC-VHH, citing the installation of the da Vinci robot, expanded specialized services with Keck School of Medicine of USC faculty and the upcoming neonatal intensive care unit as examples of the work being done at the hospital. He also talked about the plans for the new hospital on the Health Sciences Campus, which will be designed around the future of health care, ensuring that Keck Medicine continues to provide exceptional standards of care for future generations.

Rohit Varma, MD, MPH, dean of the Keck School and director of the USC Gayle and Edward Roski Eye Institute, followed with remarks on his vision for the medical school, which includes two important initiatives: digital health and precision health care. He touched on the school’s strategy to leverage collaborations with schools across the university, such as with the university’s cinema and engineering schools, to produce better, more comprehensive health care solutions. Varma also announced recent notable accomplishments, including hiring new chairs of anesthesiology and psychiatry & behavioral sciences.

— Mary Dacuma