Emergency:
Tribal Warm Line:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Tara Kitcheyan, 928-475-1250, tara.kitcheyan@scahealth.org
Thursday, August 21, 2025
PERIDOT, AZ – The Arizona Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AzAAP) has certified the San Carlos Apache Healthcare Corporation (SCAHC) as a Pediatric Prepared Emergency Care Department. This designation recognizes SCAHC’s ongoing commitment to provide optimal care for all infants, children, and adolescents of the San Carlos Apache Tribe. SCAHC is one of 33 facilities in the state to earn this certification; it is valid through May 2028.
“The San Carlos Apache Healthcare Corporation’s founding mission has been to heal, serve, and empower the Apache people,” said Victoria Began, CEO of SCAHC. “We strive to serve all tribal members, from our youngest infants to our Elders. Our decision to pursue this certification underscores the responsibility we have to our community and the standards of care that we will never compromise on. All tribal members should feel confident in bringing their children to SCAHC for emergency care.”
The Pediatrics Prepared Emergency Care (PPEC) program is a voluntary certification program done in partnership between AzAAP, the Emergency Medical Services for Children program at the Arizona Department of Health Services, and hospitals and medical personnel throughout Arizona.
The decision to certify SCAHC as a Pediatric Prepared Emergency Care Department comes after an extensive evaluation process in May 2025. Representatives from other certified sites—including nurses, physicians, hospital leaders, and emergency personnel—closely reviewed specific criteria that supports pediatric emergency care. These areas of focus include providers, continuing medical education, facility requirements, quality improvement, policies and procedures, guidelines, and equipment and supplies. SCAHC received passing marks for all criteria.
“This certification is the culmination of three years of work touching on almost every aspect of care provided in the ER at the San Carlos Apache Healthcare Corporation,” said Dr. Charles Daniel Schnorr, ED Medical Director at SCAHC. “We worked as a team to ensure our department is prepared to provide quality emergency care to our pediatric patients by reviewing and updating guidelines, obtaining specific equipment, and supporting our staff as they earned specialty credentials. Most importantly, the Emergency Department has worked closely with our community to build trust. This certification is acknowledgement of what we have been doing all along: providing quality emergency care to our patients.”
