How a California hospital cleared its surgical backlog in 3 months


Thursday, May 14th, 2026 | 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM CT

Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center, a 427-bed community medical center, faced a daunting surgical backlog — and then eliminated it entirely in just 90 days.

In this session, perioperative leaders from PVHMC share how their team used data-driven strategies and technology to overcome fragmented scheduling, manual workflows and communication barriers across multiple facilities.

Attendees will learn how the hospital increased case volumes, improved resource utilization and achieved financial ROI within six months while aligning 83 schedulers across sites.

Hear how PVHMC:

  • Transformed paper-based scheduling into streamlined, cross-department workflows across the main OR, outpatient pavilion and GI clinics
  • Used proactive block management to release 142 blocks (46,000 minutes) and fill 47% with additional cases
  • Achieved ROI within six months through FTE savings and increased post-implementation case volumes
  • Achieved 100% scheduler adoption and aligned 83 clinic schedulers into one cohesive team 

Presenters: 

Martha Soto, PVHMC (1) - Sydney Mason-1

Martha Soto, MSN, RN, CNOR

Director of Perioperative Services, Nursing Administration Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center

Maria Cortez, PVHMC (1) - Sydney Mason

Maria J. Cortez, DPA, RN

Nurse Manager, Surgery - Outpatient Pavilion
Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center

Moderator: 

Kaylie Firebaugh, LeanTaaS (1) - Sydney Mason

Kaylie Firebaugh

Client Outcomes Specialist 
LeanTaaS