Riverside, CA – Riverside Community Hospital is pleased to announce the appointment of Peter Hemstead as the new Chief Operating Officer.

Peter, who has been with HCA Healthcare nearly five years, joined the hospital early this week, bringing extensive health administration background to his new role at Riverside Community Hospital. Prior to joining the Riverside Community Hospital’s executive leadership team,Peter was the Chief Operating Officer at Doctors Hospital of Sarasota,Florida. Prior to his time there, he worked at Brandon Regional Hospital in Florida as the Assistant Administrator. In addition, he served as Director of Clinical Excellence at the corporate office in Nashville.

Before joining HCA, Peter was with LifePoint Health, and has served in the United States Coast Guard conducting helicopter search and rescue. Peter earned his Bachelor of Science at Excelsior College in Albany, New York and his MBA at Vanderbilt University.

“Riverside Community Hospital has been expanding their services to serve the needs of the growing Inland Empire for the past several years. In addition to new cutting edge cardiac and electrophysiology procedures, cancer technology, and robotic programs, RCH has expanded their capacity to provide a higher level of care to our community,” says Peter. “I am honored to be a part of the team at Riverside, and look forward to furthering our hospital’s mission as we are unequivocally “dedicated to the care and improvement of human life.”

"We are delighted that Peter has joined Riverside Community Hospital as Chief Operating Officer and as a part of our executive team,” says President and CEO Jackie DeSouza-Van Blaricum. “Peter brings a wealth of health care experience to Riverside Community Hospital along with experience in Clinical

Excellence. I am confident he will be instrumental as we continue to our vision to expand and grow the services offered here at RCH and becoming the healthcare provider of choice.”

About Riverside Community Hospital (RCH)

Riverside Community Hospital has been serving the Southern California community for over 110 years with a staff of over 2,000 employees, 500 physicians and over 200 specialties. Through their passion of providing the most comprehensive, quality healthcare and commitment in investing in the latest technologic advances in medicine, Riverside Community Hospital has been recognized as a Top Performing Hospital on Key Quality Measures for three consecutive years in a row by The Joint Commission.

RCH houses one of the largest Emergency Room and Trauma Center in the Inland Empire at 50 treatment rooms. RCH is the largest STEMI (heart attack) receiving center and is a fully accredited Chest Pain Center. Specialty services include the HeartCare Institute offering invasive and non-invasive cardiac procedures, Center of Excellence for Surgical Weight Loss, the Transplant Program, the Cancer Center and a Level II Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Riverside Community Hospital is also committed to training the next generation of physicians through its Graduate Medical Education program.