In a release, it was announced that Susan Melvin, D.O., FAAFP, a focused in family medicine and physician education and training—has been named the Chief Medical Officer at Long Beach Memorial, among the West’s two largest hospital campuses.
In her role, Dr. Melvin will partner with physician leadership at Long Beach Memorial to advance the medical staff and advocate for patients. She will serve as the bridge between the 1,200-member medical staff and management—fulfilling the vision of communication, education, collaboration and overall quality of care provided by the hospital’s mission. Dr. Melvin succeeds Gainer Pillsbury, M.D., who held the position for 16 years and will continue in an active role in the medical center.
Dr. Melvin served as Long Beach Memorial’s Associate Chief Medical Officer for the past year. From 1998 to 2011, she was President and CEO of Memorial Family Medicine and director of the Family Residency Program. She also served at the MemorialCare Health System level as a member of the six-hospital system’s board of directors and Chair of the Physician Society from 2009 to 2011, a critical time when the system implemented electronic medial records and its Medical Foundation model, the MemorialCare Medical Group.
Dr. Melvin holds academic appointments as Clinical Professor at the University of California, Irvine College of Medicine, Department of Family Medicine and Western University of Health Sciences, where she is also an alumna. An appointee of former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2006 to the Osteopathic Medical Board of California, she was reappointed in 2009 for a second three-year term and served as board officer.
Board certified in Family Medicine and a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians, Dr. Melvin holds a certificate of added qualifications in Geriatric Medicine, is a member of the American College of Physician Executives and completed the University of Southern California Management Development Program. She completed her residency at Riverside General Medical Center, where she was chief resident in family medicine and Visiting Faculty Fellowship in Faculty Development and Geriatrics at East Carolina University. Her career began as the City of Long Beach Police Surgeon in 1987.