Remodeling of Medical Center will not disrupt health services
By Daily Bruin Staff
Oct. 5, 1997 9:00 p.m.
Monday, October 6, 1997
Remodeling of Medical Center will not disrupt health
services
CONSTRUCTION: Seismically safe facilities, improvements to bring
UCLA’s hospitals to new century
By Kathryn Combs
Daily Bruin Contributor
While planning continues on the new UCLA Medical Center,
officials say that the the delivery of patient care will not be
affected during construction.
"The whole master plan is designed to have no impact on patient
operations," said Sarah Jensen, Assistant Vice Chancellor for the
health sciences capital projects, stating that architectural plans
will be finalized this week.
"In addition to being seismically unsound, the current
facilities are obsolete," she said.
"The Center for Health Sciences (CHS) had about two-thirds of
its structures damaged … it turned out that for a large portion
of that area it is more cost effective to replace it than to repair
it … keeping in mind you would have to find a place to relocate
all the patients and research activity," Jensen said.
The functional planning phase is set to begin on the 13th of
this month. During this process, employees will specify what space
each department needs and wants in order to operate at maximum
efficiency.
According to Jensen, although all their wants may not be met, it
is certain that their needs will.
"Imagine sitting down and designing a house. You need to figure
out how many bedrooms and bathrooms you want," Jensen said.
"It’s very important to talk to the people who do the actual
work to figure out how to plan and design the building," she
added.
During phase one of the project the actual hospital will be
rebuilt on the site which is now Parking Lot 14. Said to be
completed by December 2003, the new hospital facility will have 275
fewer beds.
Officials cite trends in the health care industry that will
increase the number of outpatient services while decreasing
inpatient care. In turn, they say, the Medical Center will not need
as many beds to aid the community.
"The new center will be much more efficient," Jensen says.
"The facility will be much more in scale with the campus. It
will attempt to have a relationship with the campus and be more
integrated with the court of sciences," Jensen added.
During phase two, the remaining parts of the Center for Health
Sciences (CHS) that were damaged during the quake will then be
remodeled so they measure up to seismic safety standards. Phase two
is scheduled to be completed by December of 2007.
Designed to bring UCLA into the 21st century, the project will
cost over $1.1 billion over a 10-year period.
"The construction of the new hospital will have a very positive
impact on the university by bringing our medical facilities up to
the state of the art in modern technology and building design,"
said Helene DesRuisseaux, Deputy Director of Operations for the
UCLA Medical Center.
"Not only will the medical facilities be enhanced, but they will
be brought to a seismic safety level that will assure that the
community has uninterrupted access to medical services in the event
of a future earthquake," DesRuisseaux added.
I.M. Pei, the architect for this long-term project, does not
have an easy task ahead of him, according to UCLA officials. The
reconstruction of the UCLA Medical Center has spatial limitations,
and the center is also a primary care facility for nearly 4 million
residents in the western Los Angeles area.
"It’s not whether it’s a good idea or a bad idea – it has to be
done. Prior to the earthquake, institutions such as hospitals were
going to need to be seismically renovated," said Gerald Levey,
Provost of Medical Sciences.
"The Med Center was going to have to be replaced by the year
2015. What the Northridge quake did was accelerate the process,"
Levey said.
"It’s a wonderful opportunity for the UCLA academic health
center to do this … we will have a medical campus that will not
only be seismically sound but one that is totally prepared for
education, research and clinical care in the 21st century," Levey
said.
