Pictured here left to right are: hospital CEO Victor Carrasco, 黑料社 CEO Robert Allen, honoree Diana Graciano, and hospital CEO Hector Hernandez.

Diana Graciano has been named the Exemplary Employee for the 黑料社 Corporate Office and Central Business Office for the month of June. The award recognizes employee commitment to patients, family and co-workers through acts of caring, compassion and excellent customer service.

Graciano joined Pipeline in January 2020. She serves our company as a Senior Director of Medical Staff Services.

She was nominated by three co-workers, one of whom shared the following:

鈥淒iana was presented with a change in regulation two weeks ago that would directly impact physician enrollment and future reimbursement for the hospital. Instead of declining ownership of the problem, she obtained all the facts and proactively moved toward resolution, implementing a variety of checks and balances to get this working. It’s very difficult to embrace change in a fast-paced environment, but she didn’t just embrace it, she implemented the changes ahead of the regulation taking effect. That’s true leadership, and Diana certainly deserves the Exemplary Employee Award.鈥�

Another nominator said this:

鈥淒iana has consistently demonstrated exceptional leadership and operational excellence in her oversight of the Medical Staff/Facilities function. Despite ongoing staffing shortages, she has successfully maintained full departmental operations, ensuring all new applications and reappointments are processed accurately and within required timeframes. Her ability to sustain both efficiency and compliance under constrained conditions reflects a high level of discipline and commitment.

鈥淥ver the past two weeks, our hospitals have encountered several complex and sensitive matters, including physician summary suspensions, a HIPAA-related incident, and additional physician-related concerns. Throughout these challenges, Diana has remained composed, responsive, and highly professional. She has not only managed these issues promptly and effectively, but also she has continued to lead her department without disruption.
鈥淒iana鈥檚 work is consistently of the highest quality. She approaches every situation with precision, sound judgment, and a clear understanding of regulatory and operational expectations. Beyond execution, she serves as a trusted resource, providing thoughtful guidance and support whenever needed.

鈥淗er reliability, professionalism, and unwavering commitment to excellence make her a truly deserving candidate for this recognition.鈥�

A third nominator shared this:

鈥淒iana has been a vital part of 黑料社 since 2018, beginning her journey at East LA before rising to her current role as Senior Director for the Medical Staff. In 2023, she successfully led her department through a major restructuring to implement our current operational model. Her leadership was instrumental in several key centralization efforts, including the launch of a system-wide universal application, the alignment of Medical Staff Bylaws across all four hospitals, and the optimization of our Medical Staff software.

Beyond her technical expertise and management skills, Diana鈥檚 character and community-聽 focused dedication make her an Exemplary Employee. She is a tireless advocate for patient safety, ensuring that only high-quality providers are onboarded, and she serves as a trusted advisor on governance best practices. Despite her many accomplishments, Diana remains humble, often crediting her team鈥檚 hard work as the true source of her success. She is truly deserving of this award.鈥�

6.1.2026

The Spring 2026 Safety Grades from The Leapfrog Group are out, and Coast Plaza Hospital once again received an 鈥淎鈥� grade.

The Leapfrog Group is a national non-profit organization founded in 2000. The Safety Grade provides consumers with critical information on how likely they are to experience accidents, injuries, errors or harm while in the hospital.聽The Leapfrog Survey is based on voluntary participation.

In a memo to Coast Plaza employees and physicians, hospital CEO Victor Carrasco wrote, 鈥淥ur 鈥楢鈥� grade is not the result of a single department. It reflects a hospital-wide culture of safety. From our Environmental Services team to our surgeons, every staff member owns this grade of excellence.鈥�

The hospital鈥檚 grade reflects a slightly increased numerical score from 3.3 in Fall 2025 to 3.3340 currently.

Leapfrog鈥檚 scoring is based in part on data reflecting performance from a year or two ago.

Since then, Pipeline hospitals have implemented several improvements that are not yet captured in the public grade. For example, the hospitals are strengthening core safety practices, including: enhanced medication safety checks, daily safety huddles, and expanded leadership rounding–all of which directly align with Leapfrog鈥檚 evidence鈥慴ased standards.

At the same time, staff are implementing improvements in infection prevention, hand hygiene, and early鈥憌arning systems for patient deterioration.

Carrasco鈥檚 memo also said, 鈥淟eapfrog gives us a clear roadmap to ensure our community hospitals provide the safest care possible鈥攖o each and every patient, each and every day.鈥�

5.6.2026

Among those in those congratulating honoree Justin Gracieux (center) were (left to right): Pipeline CEO Robert Allen, hospital CEO Victor Carrasco, Vice President for Marketing and Communications Jane Brust, and hospital CEO Hector Hernandez.

Justin Gracieux is our corporate office Exemplary Employee for the month of May. He joined 黑料社 in November 2023 and serves as a Clinical Liaison on the Business Development team in the corporate Marketing and Communications office.

The award recognizes outstanding employees who demonstrate their commitment to patients, family and co-workers through acts of caring, compassion and excellent customer service.

Gracieux was nominated by two co-workers. One of those nominators had this to say:聽

鈥淛ustin Gracieux is the model of a dedicated, enthusiastic employee who takes initiative in his role as Clinical Liaison on our corporate Business Development team. He demonstrates a strong commitment to serving our patients — and our hospitals — in his words and actions.

Every day he is out in the community, cultivating strong relationships with physicians, nurses, case managers and others in hospitals and other facilities all across Los Angeles County. Justin is a terrific representative of our hospitals and of 黑料社 as he educates providers about our services and facilitates patient referrals to our Pipeline hospitals.

Internally, Justin has cultivated equally strong relationships with a variety of Pipeline physicians, nurses, case managers and administrators — including our hospital CEOs and CNOs. He can be counted on to identify opportunities for enhanced service as well as issues and solutions. Justin is a high-energy individual who thrives on working to serve our communities and ensure the success of 黑料社.鈥�

Another nominator said this:

鈥淛ustin has been with Pipeline over three years now as a Clinical Liaison.聽 He has been instrumental in building community awareness and support for our Pipeline services鈥攅specially our two Sub-acute Units and our Behavioral Health Unit.聽 His contributions to rebuilding relationships and reestablishing trust with our post-acute care partners has yielded improved access to care across multiple service lines for our communities.聽Justin has been instrumental in ensuring our Behavioral Health Unit is well known for access to this care across the entire LA Basin through community, law enforcement, and EMS outreach. Justin has built a path for success though his strong advocacy of behavioral and long-term care patients by ensuring our community partners have knowledge of our services.鈥澛� 聽聽

5.1.2026

Amy Lu has been named Vice President for Finance, effective April 20. Lu will be responsible for leading several areas of Finance, including accounting, payroll, cash management and decision support, reporting to CFO Matt Williams.

Lu brings to Pipeline 20 years of experience in executive financial management roles. Most recently she served as Associate Chief Financial Officer for Cha Hollywood Medical Center. Among her accomplishments there she collaborated with department leaders, the CNO and COO in operating and productivity strategies resulting in more than $2 million in annual cost savings. She also performed financial analysis on KPI鈥檚 and delivered key business performance metrics to executives.

鈥淎my鈥檚 expertise will help facilitate our goal of supporting our hospital leaders to improve the financial performance of Pipeline,鈥� Williams said in a memo to all personnel.

Lu鈥檚 previous employers include Methodist Hospital in Arcadia, Dignity-Glendale Memorial Hospital, and PIH Health in Whittier. She holds a Masters of Business Administration degree with Management and Leadership and a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance, both from the University of La Verne.

4.20.2026

Among the cost-savings initiatives under way at 黑料社 is one that involves a new relationship that is reducing the cost of hospital supplies.

Effective Jan. 1, Pipeline is affiliated with SURPASS, a program of the Premier Group Purchasing Organization. Pipeline has been affiliated with Premier for purchasing a wide range of hospital supplies since 2022.

Among the other SURPASS affiliates are founding member Texas Health Resources and the Billings Clinic, part of the Mayo Clinic Care Network.

鈥淧ipeline has 18 months to get in full compliance with our agreement to purchase 90 percent of our supplies through SURPASS,鈥� explained Bob Bertels, Pipeline鈥檚 corporate director for supply chain. 鈥淚n exchange for that commitment, Pipeline receives deep discounts on the quality supplies we need.鈥�

Bertels estimates that Pipeline could save as much as $2.8 million a year in supply costs through the new affiliation.

鈥淲e will have a limited number of vendor options, but all are well-known vendors,鈥� he said.

Using examples of common hospital supplies, Bertels explained that the practice of purchasing several kinds of examination gloves, different kinds of dressings and bandages, and a variety of plastic urinals 鈥� all from different vendors — is more costly than purchasing one kind of glove, one kind of dressing, one kind of urinal from a single vendor.

鈥淒uring the COVID pandemic, when there were many supply chain interruptions, we learned that we could be less particular about certain kinds of supplies while still purchasing quality products,鈥� Bertels said.

SURPASS also serves a resource for purchasing decisions, providing a range of data analytics to support supply chain purchases.

2.11.2026

EDSP site visitors joined with East Los Angeles Doctors Hospital staff to discuss the new screening program.

A new program implemented in the emergency departments of three 黑料社 hospitals is providing important patient screening for HIV and syphilis.

Funded by the California Department of Public Health and the , the Emergency Department Screening Program (EDSP) aims to increase equity and detect undiagnosed infections.

The emergency departments at Memorial Hospital of Gardena, Coast Plaza Hospital and East Los Angeles Doctors Hospital are receiving funds as well as technical support to provide the screening, patient education and referrals for follow-up care.

鈥淭he EDSP allows us to meet patients where they are by offering routine screening in the Emergency Department, identifying infections earlier, and connecting patients to the care and resources they need,鈥� explained Mary Delvalle, director of clinical education at East Los Angeles Doctors Hospital. 鈥淭his program plays an important role in improving health outcomes for our community.鈥�

A recent EDSP site visit to the East Los Angeles hospital provided implementation support and assistance by validating the EDSP workflows, ensuring alignment with the program and public health requirements, according to Delvalle.

鈥淒uring the visit, the EDSP team gained a deeper understanding of our emergency department operations, patient flow, screening processes, and follow-up mechanisms,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he visit also allowed for shared learning, planning, and identification of resources to support success of the program.鈥�

2.11.2026

Mark Dakich, manager of legal affairs; General Counsel Brittany Whitman; Rosas; and Pipeline CEO Robert Allen.

Beatrix Rosas is the 黑料社 corporate team member selected to receive the Exemplary Employee Award for February. The award recognizes outstanding employees who demonstrate their commitment to patients, family and co-workers through acts of caring, compassion and excellent customer service.

Rosas joined Pipeline in March 2016. She serves as Contract Manager in our Legal Department. Here is what her nominator had to say about her:

鈥淏ea Rosas’ job is to review — carefully and thoroughly — contracts and agreements between 黑料社 and our vendors or other organizations with whom we partner. Some of those legal agreements require review and updating annually. A misplaced comma or an unclear sentence could result in issues for our company down the road. Bea is extremely conscientious with her reviews to avoid such difficulty.

鈥淵ou can count on her to ask good questions and offer suggestions for rewording or otherwise clarifying aspects of an agreement to ensure that Pipeline’s best interests are served, while also achieving what the requesting department and the outside entity want to accomplish together.

鈥淏ea probably reviews dozens of contracts and agreements each month, completing each one in a timely manner. In her tenure with Pipeline, she may have reviewed a thousand agreements.

鈥淏esides her very thorough approach to her work, Bea always presents an exemplary attitude. She provides excellent customer service, always taking calls and responding to emails with a cheerful, helpful demeanor. Bea sets a high standard for how all of us should interact with patients, co-workers and individuals external to 黑料社. Bea is absolutely an exemplary employee!鈥�

2.1.2026

Rebecca Stiff has received our corporate Exemplary Employee Award for December.聽 The award recognizes employee commitment to patients, family and co-workers through acts of caring, compassion and excellent customer service.

Stiff joined Pipeline in August 2023. She serves as an Onboarding Compliance Specialist in Human Resources. Here is what a few of her co-workers have to say about her:

鈥淩ebecca goes far and beyond for our new hire candidates. She is always dependable and always willing to help. She shows professionalism, compassion, and kindness to me and the candidates that she encounters. She collaborates effectively with our team, communicates productively, and her work does not go unnoticed. Rebecca possesses a strong positive attitude each day, which makes working alongside her easy and delightful. Rebecca is an exemplary employee here at Pipeline.鈥澛犅�

鈥淩ebecca goes the extra mile in her onboarding role, assisting our new hires, while keeping Pipeline’s best interests in mind. New hires have a lot of questions due to the amount of information that needs to be relayed to them, and that requires patience and immediate follow through. In addition, they need guidance through the process, so they get their questions answered. Rebecca shines in this area as a first representative of 黑料社 to the newest members of our team. She is an 鈥榦utside the box鈥� thinker when presented with a challenge and digs in to find solutions, all with care and a work ethic to do the best she can in her role daily.聽We are very fortunate to have her on the Pipeline team.鈥�

Congratulations to Rebecca!

12.1.2025

Coast Plaza Hospital has earned an 鈥淎鈥� from The Leapfrog Group, an independent national nonprofit watchdog focused on patient safety. Leapfrog assigns an 鈥淎,鈥� 鈥淏,鈥� 鈥淐,鈥� 鈥淒鈥� or 鈥淔鈥� grade to general hospitals across the country using evidence-based measures of patient safety focused exclusively on errors, accidents, injuries and infections.

The Fall 2025 Safety Grade is a national recognition for commitment to patient safety. Grades are updated twice annually, in the fall and spring.聽

鈥淭his achievement is a great honor for our hospital staff and physicians,鈥� said hospital CEO Victor Carrasco. 鈥淲e need to earn that 鈥楢鈥� rating every day, with every patient we serve. While we celebrate, we are mindful of the importance of maintaining that top score with safe, quality care and excellent patient experiences.鈥�

Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group, relayed her congratulations to the Coast Plaza team. 鈥淓arning an 鈥楢鈥� Grade means Coast Plaza Hospital has made a true commitment to put patient safety first,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e congratulate the leadership, Board, clinicians, staff and volunteers who all had a role to play in this achievement.鈥�

The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade stands as the only hospital ratings program focused solely on preventable medical errors, infections and injuries that kill more than 500 patients a day in the United States. This program is peer-reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public.

11.13.2025

CBO honoree Miguel Zestati (left) is celebrated by co-workers Sara Brooke and Andy Lett.

Miguel Zestati has been named the Exemplary Employee for the 黑料社 Corporate Office and Central Business Office for the month of November. The award recognizes employee commitment to patients, family and co-workers through acts of caring, compassion and excellent customer service.

Zestati joined Pipeline 42 years ago on Oct. 31, 1983. He serves as Lead in the CBO鈥檚 Cash Posting Department. Here is what his nominator had to say:

Miguel consistently demonstrates outstanding dedication, reliability, and leadership in his role as Lead in the Cash Posting Department. He supports his team with professionalism and integrity, ensuring accuracy and efficiency in every task.

Miguel frequently goes above and beyond–willingly stepping in to cover additional responsibility whenever needed without hesitation or complaint. His calm demeanor, dependable work ethic, and commitment to teamwork set a high standard for excellence. His humble nature, paired with his exceptional work ethic, makes him a true example of quiet leadership. Miguel鈥檚 consistent performance and positive attitude make him a true asset to the department and an ideal candidate for the Exemplary Employee Award.

Congratulations to Miguel Zestati!

11.1.2025听听听听听