DAVID MARTINEZ
SOLEDAD — David Martinez has taken over as CEO of Eden Valley Care Center and Soledad Medical Clinic. He began his new position May 1.
Martinez started in the medical industry as a junior volunteer and was in a choir club that traveled to nursing homes in Fresno to sing for the elderly.
“I enjoyed it so much that I went back the next week and said that I would like to volunteer and they said yes,” Martinez said.
When he turned 16, Martinez filled out an application to work in the kitchen of the same nursing facility. At that time, Martinez had been with them for three years. Later Martinez decided that he wanted to be a nursing home administrator.
Martinez spoke with one of the administrators who told him he had to go to school and get a degree, which he did. He received his degree from University of California, Santa Cruz.
Then Martinez had to find a preceptor, or instructor to train him. In the meantime, the Fresno Nursing Home offered him a job in which he learned about Medicare, Medi-Cali and resident trust accounts. About a year and a half later, Martinez found a preceptor in Fresno who trained him during a thousand-hour program.
Some friends of Martinez’s were moving to Washington, D.C., and asked if he would like to come with them. Martinez did, becoming licensed in Maryland, but he ultimately missed California and returned home.
Martinez’s most recent role was at Golden Age Convalescent Hospital in Capitola.
“Everything appealed to me in Soledad,” Martinez said. “As I was going through the interview process, I had checked out Soledad.”
Martinez looked at the Eden Valley website and thought the buildings were beautiful and the quality of care they provide.
“I was just amazed at just how few positions they had open,” he said. “One year they had absolutely no positions open. And I just said, ’Wow, they must know what they are doing there, they must have a survey history.’”
According to Martinez, Eden Valley Care Center is operating at the highest standards of providing quality of care and quality of life.
“For that reason there is no reason to reinvent the wheel,” Martinez said. “So no changes will be made. We are going to continue improving the best practices the previous administrator left in place.”
Martinez takes over the position from Steve Pritt, who died in March.
