MemorialCare Long Beach Medical Center has named Antonio “Tony” Garcia, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, CEN, as its new Chief Nursing Officer. Garcia brings nearly 15 years of experience in progressive nursing leadership roles to this position.
In his role as Chief Nursing Officer, Garcia will be responsible for overseeing all nursing clinical care and patient care standards for Long Beach Medical Center. Garcia will serve as a liaison between executive leadership and nursing leaders to ensure that patients receive the most exceptional and safest care while creating a patient and family centered care environment.
“Tony is a champion for the patient experience while advocating and ensuring all patients receive the safest care of the highest quality,” says John Bishop, chief executive officer, Long Beach Medical Center. “He brings a focus on front-line team member engagement, system integration and alignment, while building a high-performance leadership team to advance the professionalism of nursing for optimal patient outcomes. Tony will be an asset to not only us, but the community we serve as we navigate the ever-changing health care landscape.”
Long Beach Medical Center employs more than 1,900 registered nurses. The hospital also has achieved Magnet designation, which recognizes organizations for excellence in nursing care.
“I am excited to join the team at Long Beach Medical Center,” says Garcia. “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for anyone in nursing leadership. I’m honored to be chosen to oversee nursing responsibilities for a Magnet designated hospital.”
Early in his career, Garcia served as a firefighter in Toronto, Canada for 14 years. Most recently, Garcia served as a Chief Nursing Officer in Tenet Health’s Northern California Central Valley Region. Prior to that, he served as a nursing leader for Kaiser Permanente in San Jose as the Director of Emergency Services and Urgent Care and as the Director of Adult Services prior to that. He’s enrolled to obtain his Doctor of Nursing Practice in Systems’ Leadership from Rush University in Chicago.
Garcia’s goals for Long Beach Medical Center include providing exceptional, high quality, safe nursing care. He wants to be a Chief Nursing Officer that is supportive and approachable to all nurses while creating a trustworthy and strong team.
“My goal is to create efficient and effective team collaboration,” says Garcia. “Our hospital already has a strong, aligned leadership team, and I am looking forward to its continued growth while creating a supportive environment for our nurses.”