The Chief Executive Officer of Madera Community Hospital, Dr. Sony Sidhu, recently spoke at a Madera Noon Rotary Club meeting to give updates on the local hospital, and to share what advancements have been made and services that are provided.
Sidhu was named CEO of MCH in July of 2025, shortly after the hospital reopened.
Before coming to Madera, Sidhu served as the CEO and Chief Nursing Officer of Central Valley Specialty Hospital in Modesto for six years. She brings more than 25 years of background in healthcare leadership, critical care, and hospital operations.
“The hospital was closed for two and a half years, and everyone saw the impact,” she said. “So, bringing it back up and making sure it gives back everything the community deserves is the role of myself and my team.”
She expressed that her goal for the hospital is to provide the best healthcare possible for patients, for families, and for all partners in the community, offering emergency, inpatient, surgery, and diagnostics. It is important for patients to stay close to home whenever it is safe to do so. She emphasized the need to work together as partners in the community.
“We have seen the numbers when the hospital was closed,” she said. “We still continue to see the need.”
Sidhu and her team are reaching out to the community to see that the hospital regains the needed trust in its services. One of her main points of focus is to restore that trust so that the community sees the hospital as a partner.
“Madera Community Hospital is exactly what the name says,” she said. “We’re a community hospital. We provide acute care for Madera and the surrounding communities.”
She talked about three aspects of serving Madera as a hospital: Community, Emergency Care Hub, and Growing Capabilities. She explained each of these and what they mean to Madera.
“Community means we’re not a distant system,” she said. “Our patients are your neighbors, your coworkers, your teachers, your family, our nurses, technicians, physicians. They all live here.”
The Emergency Care Hub is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, serving local families who depend on it. It also serves EMS partners and neighboring towns.
“We’re here to serve, and we have to continue doing that,” she said. “Families who’ve had a loved one in any ICU knows how critical it is to be close to home because you just don’t know when things change. We have surgery and operating rooms so procedures can be done safely locally and do not require a long trip.”
Madera Community Hospital is now able to do advanced X-ray imaging, nuclear medicine, and MRI. A 3-D Mammography machine has also been installed.
“Two key things that I want to really emphasize today is some moments and celebrations that Madera Community Hospital was able to do,” Sidhu said. “The first is our role as a base hospital for emergency services.”
As of September 14, Madera Community Hospital now has a Base Hospital designation, and is working with the Central California EMS agency, also called CCEMSA. This provides 24-hour physician and Mobile Intensive Care Nurses direction for field EMS.
“It is not a trophy that we received. It’s a responsibility that we took over as a hospital,” Sidhu said. “When a paramedic calls us from the field, someone on our team has to pick up and give clear, sound guidance every time, day or night. Our team has trained and prepared for that, and that I’m proud of.”
The designation of a base hospital strengthens the radio and medical control so that ambulance crews get real-time guidance for critically or injured patients. It keeps more advanced decision-making local.
She explained that this matters to three groups of people. It really matters to patients, EMS partners, and for our community. It means faster response times and coordinated care, from the scene to the hospital. Treatment starts early and the patient is directed to the right destination and the right treatment path in an emergency. Those early decisions can shape the entire outcome.
“When care can safely stay here, it means fewer transfer outs. That helps the patient and it helps the family who would otherwise be making a stressful drive to a hospital far from home,” Sidhu said.
“The second is our primary stroke center path,” she said. “We passed the survey, and the formal certification is pending. And that is huge. It’s a survey that looks at every single point of contact in the hospital, from when the patient first touches us.”
It is a great accomplishment that the hospital passed the survey. It means Madera Community Hospital’s health care team is ready and able to start the primary stroke center.
“A stroke is a true time critical emergency,” Sidhu said. “When a stroke happens the brain is losing blood flow and every minute counts. The faster a patient is recognized and treated, the better the chance of recovery. That’s why stroke programs are built around speed and coordination. I’m so proud to share that Madera Community Hospital passed the survey. We’re just waiting for the certification from the state.”
Sidhu says she is trying to educate the community about the hospital, its services, and the critical nature of having the hospital in high function in Madera. She is working on going to different local community events, churches, and schools to build awareness and confidence in Madera Community Hospital.
“We are investing in all the basic needs that we need to provide to the community and any additional advanced services that we can bring to the hospital,” she said. “Having just the stroke primary certification opens the door to treat your primary stroke patients. Then if the need is for higher level, that will be available immediately.”
One of the programs implemented that is building more confidence and trust in the hospital is its post discharge follow-up. It began with surgical patients, and now there are phone calls made to the patients or families after discharge, just to do a wellness check. This gives them the opportunity to discuss their medications, or follow up on appointments, which opens up other doors. Sometimes they don’t remember their follow-up appointment.
“Now with the stroke program too, we will be calling every stroke patient after they’re discharged as well because that is very critical that they follow up,” Sidhu said. “That is huge for stroke patients.”
Sidhu then offered a time for questions and comments from the attendees at the meeting. The comments were positive, as people talked about personal recent experiences with the hospital under new management.
So approximately how many people are employed now at the hospital?
Sidhu: 852, and growing. We have 30 more in orientation. The nursing workforce is, of course, the biggest.
How does the process go for hiring local versus traveling?
Sidhu: I’m so proud we do not have any staffing or any registry. It’s all organic staff local. That’s the investment. When you live in the community, when you’re part of it, it just comes naturally. You want to give back and there’s a commitment. There’s an actual investment.
We have great Camarena Health, and we have a hospital. So, how do we decide if we’re going to Camarena for urgent care or if we’re going to the hospital for emergency?
Sidhu: Anytime you cannot decide if it’s an emergency or not, you should always seek emergency care. Then, if it looks like it is something that can be followed through an outpatient Camarena Health, the ED providers will direct. You just don’t want to lose any time if it is critical.
The hospital closed, I understand, for financial reasons. What has changed now, or where are we getting funds so we have the confidence that it’s not going to go under again? What changed?
Sidhu: You are probably aware about the hospital distress loan. That helped really build the hospital back up, and that’s what helped us get on track. And now, with patient population, we’re able to support that. We are under a management company that supports us. And now we have services that are especially for stroke, and the base hospital designation. That’s where the support is coming from. And at this point, I’m so confident with the volume.
So, we’re a 103-bed hospital. Our inpatient census is 90-plus. When I looked back at the history for Madera Community Hospital, the average census was in the 30s. It was 40 during COVID time. So, to be at 90, is huge, and the ED volume has tripled. But the time is still less than 30 minutes. We’re able to see the patients less than 30 minutes because the efficiency is what will make sure the patients do come back. If I’m going to a hospital, if it’s not efficient, no matter what services they have, it doesn’t matter.
Is there any hope in the future to get back into the baby delivery business?
Sidhu: Right now, we’re trying to get the basic services. It looks like chest pain cardiac is huge right now in the community. We’re seeing a lot of patients that are going through myocardial infarction, which is heart attack, and time is muscle. So our next project, we’re trying to concentrate on chest pain, get cardiac care. Getting those services is important. And then, of course, after that, we’ll look at the maternity and child care.
How’s the pipeline going for kids going into nursing from high school to a college and on?
Sidhu: We are open to doing externship, internship. We’re looking at the schools.
If we can instill the giving feeling in our youth, we hope they will want to give back. Whether it be healing, whether it be, to be a nurse or a nursing professional. Health care is huge. Community is huge. We can do community events for awareness.