Ojai Valley Community Hospital renamed Community Memorial Hospital amid other changes
Ojai Valley Community Hospital has been renamed Community Memorial Hospital — Ojai as part of a series of branding changes made by the nonprofit health care system that runs it.
New names at two hospitals, a network of clinics and other entities were announced in January by officials of Community Memorial Healthcare, the system that had been known as the Community Memorial Health System.
The flagship facility, Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura, is now Community Memorial Hospital – Ventura. The outpatient clinics that include the Centers for Family Health network and Midtown Medical Group have been renamed Community Memorial Health Centers. The system's foundation is now the Community Memorial Foundation.
One of the most visible changes comes in Ojai, where the Ojai Valley Community Hospital was built in 1960. In 2000, with the hospital struggling to keep its doors open, local physicians and community leaders headed by department store owner Alan Rains put together a foundation that purchased the facility from Province Healthcare. Five years later, the hospital merged with Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura.
The new tag makes perfect sense to Brian Aikens, board president of the Ojai Valley Museum.
"It's kind of a no-brainer in that they’re consolidating their brand and helping people understand what’s behind the Ojai Valley Hospital," he said. "Everyone’s gong to still call it the Ojai Valley Hospital."
The branding changes across the system came after research that included input from focus groups and are designed to emphasize the comprehensive network of care, said Jamie Maites, Community Memorial Healthcare's vice president of marketing and development.
"People weren't connecting that the Centers for Family Health were part of Community Memorial Health System or that Ojai Valley Community Hospital was part of Community Memorial Health System," she said, noting the changes show all the properties belong under the same umbrella. "It's a network. It's a system."
The changes also include what officials call a layered wave as the logo used by all of the health system’s entities in a nod to the region’s coastal location and the teamwork required to provide care. The system has also unveiled a new website, mycmh.org, providing a single entry point instead of what used to be 10 different websites.
Tom Kisken covers health care and other news for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at tom.kisken@vcstar.com or 805-437-0255.
SUPPORT LOCAL JOURNALISM: To see more stories like this, subscribe here.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Community Memorial Healthcare unveils new name, other changes
