Why Healthcare Workers Are Choosing the Victor Valley

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The Victor Valley is served by three high-quality health systems – Providence St. Mary Medical Center, Victor Valley Global Medical Center and Desert Valley Hospital. Each provides quality healthcare for residents of the region, and each is also a major employer that helps draw talent to the area. 

Myriam Delgado, specialty services manager at Desert Valley Hospital, moved to the Victor Valley from Riverside County in 2023. 

What brought you to the Victor Valley? 

I grew up in Costa Mesa and Laguna Hills, but my family and I had been wanting to relocate, so we moved to Riverside County. 

Our landlord needed to take possession of the property we were renting. We decided to take a chance and asked our Realtor what type of home we could afford and where the ideal area would be. We have a horse, chickens, and ATVs, so an apartment wouldn’t have worked. 

She suggested the Victor Valley, where cities like Hesperia, Apple Valley and Victorville were up and coming. We decided to try something completely different and look for a place that we could both commute from in Hesperia. It was a new build, with lots of space and a new beginning for us. 

What do you do in your role at Desert Valley Hospital? 

I was about 20 when I got my medical assistant certificate, and within a few years I got the opportunity to be a supervisor for a private practice in Riverside County. That was a big and overwhelming adjustment, but about six months in, I felt like I could relate to the staff and I was educating people. 

We had moved to the Victor Valley already and I was commuting and it was really starting to take a toll on me. The kids were changing schools, and I decided to look and see what they had in my area and there was a supervisory role at Desert Valley. 

I started as a supervisor in the OB/ GYN department, and within a year I was promoted to manager and took on two more departments. In October, I took on orthopodiatry. It’s been challenging having 40 employees and 20 providers, but I’ve been able to balance it. 

What are some things you love about your role at Desert Valley Hospital? 

The culture here at Desert Valley is more like family and is different than other places I’ve worked. What I like most is that the people who surround us are always supportive. 

Just having resources available when you need to figure something out and not getting pushback is great. It’s a family-oriented work atmosphere. I went from a smaller practice to this corporate environment, so that is different, but everybody makes you feel comfortable. Everybody’s very open – we share our perspectives and we’re not here to judge each other but to help each other. 

Courtesy of Dessert Valley Hospital

What do you like about living in the Victor Valley? 

I think what I like most is that it’s not saturated with people. It’s different from Orange County and Riverside County. I had to adapt to the weather, which I like now. 

I love how close you have the beach, it’s only an hour away. Big Bear Lake and the mountains are in your backyard, with towns like Crestline just about 20 minutes away. We appreciate that things aren’t crazy and overpopulated. 

What types of things do you like to do in your spare time? 

I’m really a homebody when I’m not at work, but I’m also a soccer mom. Two of my kids are now playing club soccer, so that’s practically another full-time role for me. I’ve learned to understand soccer and I love it now. It gets me out of the house, I socialize with the other soccer moms and their families, and I’ve been enjoying that the last two years. It’s become as much of a hobby for me as it is for my kids.