Dr. Irv Edwards obtained his Bachelor's Degree from McGill University and his Medical Degree from the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. He came to Los Angeles to pursue his interest in Emergency Medicine and interned at Los Angeles County Hospital. After his internship, Dr. Edwards completed his residency in Emergency Medicine at Harbor UCLA Medical Center. Following his residency, Dr. Edwards pursued private practice at a variety of hospital sites in Los Angeles and Orange Counties including Chino Valley Medical Center, Encino-Tarzana Regional Medical Center, La Palma Intercommunity Hospital, Mission Community Hospital, Montclair Hospital Medical Center, Olympia Medical Center, Sherman Oaks Hospital, and Valley Presbyterian Hospital. He was the Director of Performance Improvement at Mission Community Hospital from 1998 – 2003 and he currently serves as the Director of Case Management at Mission Community Hospital and as the Chief of Staff at Chino Valley Medical Center. He is the Director of Emergency Services at Chino Valley Medical Center, Encino-Tarzana Regional Medical Center, Mission Community Hospital, and Montclair Hospital Medical Center.

In 1989, Dr. Edwards founded Emergent Medical Associates and has served as its President since inception. Since 2001, Dr. Edwards has been a dedicated member of CAL/ACEP and he currently sits on their Executive Board. He served as its President from 2005-2006.

Dr. Mark Bell has been a managing partner in EMA since 1998. As Co-President, he has led the start-up and management of several emergency departments, and developed along the way a unique skill set centered on creating department efficiencies and managing the critical role emergency departments serve in driving hospital performance. He developed the EMA administrative residency program which prepares EMA physicians for administrative roles. His expertise covers customer service, strategic planning, business development, and community service. Dr. Bell is an active physician, hospital advocate, and represents his colleagues in healthcare issues on a local as well as national level.

Mark is a graduate from the Chicago Medical School. His undergraduate training was at Westmont College, in Santa Barbara, California. He completed residency in emergency medicine at the University California Irvine in 1996 and is a fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians. Following residency, Dr. Bell went into private practice in the South Bay of Los Angeles and soon partnered with Dr. Irv Edwards at Emergent Medical Associates. Through a dedication to quality, service, and efficient patient care, their emergency department management company grew from 5,000 patient visits per year, to more than 700,000 over the next decade. Mark is also the President and co-founder of Benchmark Hospitalists, a hospitalist company based in Los Angeles, and managing partner of Pipeline Health. He sits on various boards including the Marconi Foundation, Huntington Beach Hospital, Norris Cancer Leadership Board, and Goals for Life. Dr. Bell’s expertise is particularly strong in emergency department and in-patient efficiencies, customer service, paramedic outreach, strategic planning, and business development. Mark spends much of his time teaching physicians the skills required to succeed in administrative management and leadership. He has published on many topics, including pediatric cardiology, nutrition, and emergency medicine reimbursement, and frequently lectures on subjects most interesting to him such as The History of Nuclear Biological and Chemical Warfare, EMTALA, the Field Management of the Unknown Overdose, and the effect of efficient hospital care on morbidity and mortality. When he’s not working, Dr. Bell enjoys surfing, cycling, rugby, and traveling with his family. He’s married to Dr. Camela Ott, and has two children Luke and Dominic.

Dr. Lee R. Weiss is currently Medical Director of Emergency Medical Services at Huntington Beach Hospital and Co-Medical Director of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Centinela Freeman Medical Center in Inglewood, CA.

A graduate of the State University of New York at Downstate School of Medicine, Dr. Weiss trained in Internal Medicine, Immunology, Infectious Diseases, and Emergency Medicine at SUNY Downstate, Kings County Hospital, the National Institutes of Health, SUNY Stony Brook, Bellevue Hospital, and the New York University Medical Center.

Dr. Weiss previously was the Director of Emergency Medical Services at Knox Community Hospital in Mount Vernon, OH, and most recently Vice Chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine at St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Bridgeport, CT. Dr. Weiss previously held faculty positions in the Departments of Medicine and Emergency Medicine at New York University School of Medicine, The Bellevue Hospital Center, and The Ohio State University School of Medicine.

Dr. Weiss is the founder and previous managing partner of Synergy Micro Systems in Columbus, OH. For the past twenty plus years, Dr. Weiss has focused his research interests on the Epidemiology and Management of Outpatient Infectious Diseases. His major research focus has been the epidemiology of resistance in Streptococcus pneumonia.

An avid international traveler, for the past twenty years, Dr. Weiss has volunteered with Doctors without Borders in Africa and Central Asia. Dr. Weiss resides with his wife Dr. Michelle Weiss and son Gavin in Hermosa Beach, CA.

Dr. G. Scott Brewster is Chief Medical Officer at EMA and leads all quality program development including clinical best practice implementation and standardization. Dr. Brewster also oversees clinical leadership development in the organization and created the EMA Administrative Emergency Medicine Fellowship which was the first in the country at its inception. He has extensive hospital administrative experience including an long tenure as Emergency Medicine Director at Providence Tarzana Medical Center.

Dr. Brewster attended medical school at Northwestern University and completed an Internal Medicine and Emergency Medicine residency at UCLA. He is an actively practicing Emergency Physician and maintains his board certification in both Internal Medicine and Emergency Medicine. Prior to joining EMA in 2003, Dr. Brewster was a faculty member at UCLA and Cedars Sinai Medical Center.