Keith Hobbs brings nearly 30 years’ experience in healthcare administration to Torrance Memorial Medical Center. As the former CEO of USC Verdugo Hills Hospital, he knows everything about running a community hospital as part of a larger medical system. Earlier executive roles with USC-affiliated Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) give Hobbs a deep understanding of how academic medicine works—a direction that Torrance Memorial is already pursuing as it launches its first residency program (in internal medicine) later this summer.
At the same time, Hobbs is no newcomer to Torrance Memorial. He’s been an integral part of the leadership team for almost three years now. Handpicked by retiring CEO Craig Leach, Hobbs arrived in 2021 as executive vice president for the health system. He spearheaded the new ambulatory surgery center set to break ground later this year, shepherded the dramatic expansion of laboratory outreach programs and oversaw the strategy for growing the Torrance Memorial Physicians Network. Last February, he was formally promoted to president, and in November, he was elevated to president and CEO.
A native of Glendale, California, Hobbs holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business administration. Before moving into hospital administration at CHLA in 1992, he worked in HR for a bank and at Walt Disney Imagineering. The Indiana Jones ride, Fantasmic and Disneyland Paris were launched during his tenure.
PV Magazine asked Hobbs to share his vision for the dynamic South Bay institution he now leads. He also spoke about his family life, living on the peninsula and personal interests.
You started your career in banking and the entertainment industry. Why did you switch to hospital administration?
My wife, Merrilee, was the first in our family to work at a hospital. She was a volunteer candy-striper at our hometown hospital and later she was employed in the hospital billing department. Her work seemed so satisfying, and she really loved her job. When I started working at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, I really found my calling. The healthcare environment is all about helping others. That resonates with me. All through college, I was a youth director for junior high and high school students, and coached different sports. The mission at CHLA—helping families regardless of their ability to pay—really spoke to who I am as a person.
You stepped down from a CEO role at USC Verdugo Hills in 2021 to become an executive vice president at Torrance Memorial. Craig Leach hadn’t officially announced his retirement before you were hired, but was clearly preparing his successor. Still, it was a risky move. What made you accept that arrangement?
My willingness to step aside from the title of CEO was driven by two things: the esteemed reputation of Torrance Memorial Medical Center and the stature of the Cedars Sinai Health System.
Torrance Memorial is more than a community hospital. It’s a first-rate nationally ranked regional health system. It’s a larger regional medical center with the soul of a community hospital. Outside of academic medical centers, it is top-of-the-market in Southern California.
And Torrance Memorial is affiliated with Cedars Sinai, which is the health system of Southern California, in my opinion.
What is your vision for the future of Torrance Memorial?
Some short-term goals are to get the academic medical center up and running, expand the ambulatory surgery center strategy, and add solar-power capabilities. That’s over the next two or three years. We’re also continuing to expand our Torrance Memorial Physician Network.
Some of our medium-term goals will be expanding the Lundquist Leach Emergency Department to double its current size, adding more treatment and consultation spaces. This expansion will greatly improve the patient experience while enhancing flexibility, efficiency and safety. We are evaluating several other campus expansion plans to increase capacity and meet the growing needs of our community. These projects should be completed between 2026 and 2030.
As for the long-term vision for the hospital, we own the Honeywell parking lot across the street, and we own the Torrance Medical Office Building next to the West Tower. One of the greatest attributes of Torrance Memorial is that it’s not landlocked. We have the ability to grow where most other hospitals in California can’t. We own our destiny. When the time is right, we will have the ability to add a new tower and new medical office buildings to serve the South Bay.
Tell us about your family.
We have three children. Our oldest, Amanda, is 28 and lives in Santa Clarita with her husband and their 18-month-old daughter, Scarlett. Amanda works in HR benefits at Master’s University. My son Kameron, who is 26, is a CPA working for HCVT, the public accounting firm with his office in Long Beach. He’s getting married in May, and his bride-to-be is a nurse at City of Hope. Our youngest son, Landon, 21, is a student, but not for much longer. He graduates this spring with his bachelor’s degree from the USC Marshall School of Business and has already started his master’s in health administration in the USC Price School of Public Policy.
Rounding out the Hobbs family is Tillie, our Yorkie rescue dog.
Was it hard to leave your hometown to come live in the South Bay?
My wife and I both grew up in the Northern Glendale/La Cañada area. We met at church there, and later moved to Santa Clarita. That’s where our kids grew up. We know both communities inside and out. But I’d made a promise to my wife, soon after we got married, which was 33 years ago. She’d asked me if we ever had a chance to be closer to the ocean, would I consider it? I told her if there were ever a possibility, I would. So, coming to Torrance Memorial allowed me to keep that promise.
What do you enjoy most about living on the peninsula?
Merilee loves to hike the different trails near our home in Rancho Palos Verdes. And my boys, who still live with us, love the beaches. After six months down here, they were like: “This is amazing! Why didn’t we move here years ago.?”
Outside your work at the hospital, how are you involved in the South Bay community.
I serve on the board of the Torrance Area Chamber of Commerce. I also am on the board of Communities Lifting Communities, which focuses on health inequities and housing for the homeless. I’m vice chair on the executive board of the Hospital Association of Southern California, which is made up of CEOs across Southern California. I’m in line to be chair next year. I also serve on the California Hospital Association Board, reviewing key healthcare legislation for the state. And I’m a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives and a member of the Medical Group Management Association.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
We’re serious sports fans. We root for Trojan football, the Dodgers, the Rams, the Lakers and the Kings. We also love to play golf. My daughter, Amanda, went to college on a golf scholarship. Everyone in the family plays. For our first date, I took Merilee to a local course and used swing-coaching as the excuse to put my arms around her. I proposed on the golf course, hiding the engagement ring inside the 9th hole cup. But golf is a once-in-a-while thing. For regular exercise, I play pickleball. I’m a regular with Torrance Memorial’s Thursday night group.
