Seven years after the announcement that UCLA would be
constructing a new medical center, and three years after the
initial date that the center was set to be completed, the doors of
UCLA’s new medical facility are still more than a year away
from opening.
Modifications to the construction plans have repeatedly changed
the completion date, and the projected date for the opening of the
center is now set for late summer or early fall 2007.
So far, the cost for the construction and equipment for the UCLA
Medical Center has been approximately $850 million, paid for by a
combination of state, federal and private funds.
As new technology and equipment became available and UCLA was
required to meet strict safety guidelines, the plans, cost and time
line that were set out when the construction of the new medical
center was first announced changed greatly.
While it was originally set to be completed and open for
business in 2004, current estimates set the completion of the major
construction of the hospital at the end of 2006, said Dale Tate,
executive director of the UCLA Health Sciences media relations. It
will then take a minimum of six months to completely outfit the
hospital with technology, furniture and other equipment to complete
the licensure process, she said.
But with a project as extensive as the construction of a new
medical center, which includes the installation of complex
technology and requires meeting various safety standards, delays
are not unexpected, Tate said.
“With projects of this size and complexity, it’s not
uncommon for construction to proceed at a pace slower than
originally anticipated, and the current costs do not reflect the
initial estimates,” she said.
Known as the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, this new
structure will replace UCLA’s current medical center and is
set to house the currently existing Resnick Neuropsychiatric and
Mattel Children’s Hospitals, which were damaged during the
1994 Northridge earthquake. It will also house Women’s
Services, Diagnosis and Treatment and other facilities, according
to the management team’s Web site.
Structural damages in 1994 made the medical center unsafe for
patients and required that UCLA either rebuild the existing site or
construct a new one. After it was determined that retrofitting the
old building would not be cost effective and would likely have
“an unacceptable impact” on patient care, UCLA
officials decided to construct a new center, Tate said.
The building is designed to withstand an 8.4 magnitude
earthquake and meet stringent 2008 California seismic safety
standards.
“This is … one of the first, if not the first, large
academic health center that meets stringent earthquake standards,
which has made this a challenging construction project for everyone
involved,” Tate said.
She said the new hospital’s design embodies the concepts
of “healing” natural light, openness and
flexibility.
“At the end of the process, we will have the most
structurally sound, state-of-the-art academic health center
designed to care for the people of Southern California and
beyond,” Tate said.
With its new equipment, operating rooms and technology, the
center’s medical students and residents will have the
opportunity to view complex surgeries, including robotic surgery.
Trainees will be able to see operations through the eyes of a
doctor ““ to see surgery on a monitor, in the operating room
or in special conference rooms in the building, Tate said.
“This new medical center will help provide (volunteer and
research) opportunities for pre-medicine students at UCLA with the
best equipment available,” said Zunaira Spall, a second-year
biochemistry student.
Medical personnel and students will be able to use up-to-date
technology to get lab reports, imaging and medical records to
enhance diagnosis and treatment, she added.
And the proximity of the new center to the UCLA campus may bring
more students to volunteer and study on the site, said Laney Chinn,
a third-year physiological science student who has volunteered at
the UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center.
“Because of the convenient location, it may encourage more
students to become involved,” she said.
Tate said the new facility will also provide benefits to
patients who are not available in the existing facility. These
include private rooms capable of becoming an intensive care unit if
needed, windows in every room, and the ability to use the latest
technology available.