$58 MILLION HOSPITAL OVERHAUL SIMI VALLEY FACILITY WILL ADD 144 BEDS, MODERNIZE EMERGENCY ROOM.

Byline: ERIC LEACH

Staff Writer

SIMI VALLEY -- Aiming to serve a population that has soared from 8,000 to 123,000 over the last four decades, Simi Valley Hospital is completing a $58 million renovation that officials say will carry the Sycamore Drive facility well into the 21st century.

The project includes construction of a four-story, 146,000-square-foot patient-care tower, as well as an expansion and overhaul of the emergency room.

"For all intents and purposes, it's a brand-new hospital," said Greg Stratton, a former Simi Valley mayor and school board member who sits on the strategic planning committee of the hospital board.

"The new hospital will meet the state's earthquake safety standards and have the latest and greatest technology," Stratton said. "This hospital will be prepared for the 21st century. We're looking forward to the grand opening."

The new tower, which builders expect to open late this year or early next year, will have 144 patient rooms -- all of them private -- eight labor-and-delivery rooms and eight neonatal intensive-care beds. The intensive-care unit will be expanded from 11 to 24 beds.

Upon the opening of the new patient-care tower, the emergency room will be doubled in size.

"We're in the process of rebuilding the whole thing," said Gary Irish, the hospital's president and CEO.

Irish said when all the work is completed the hospital will be more attractive, more upscale and more comfortable.

"We're tying into the theme that is going on in the entire community, with improvements like the Simi Valley Town Center," Irish said. "I think it will be an entirely different feel for everyone."

The hospital is also upgrading its computer system. Physicians will be able to download patient data to hand-held computers and digitally transmit images and medical records.

The emergency room project will reduce waiting times for patients and increase the hospital's ability to provide emergency care in the event of a major disaster, officials said.

"Our current patient volume in the emergency department is 50 percent more than what the department was originally designed for," said Julie Shores, director of emergency services.

After the patient-care tower opens, officials plan to raze parts of the old hospital, which opened in 1965 at a cost of $850,000. Those areas will be rebuilt, along with a new lobby, chapel and gift shop.

A new office complex also will be built nearby.

Simi Valley Hospital last week received a patient satisfaction score of 60, well below the statewide average of 79, in a survey posted by www.CalHospitalCompare.org, a hospital assessment resource funded by the nonprofit CaliforniaHealthCare Foundation and the California Hospital Assessment and Reporting Taskforce.

Irish, who was hired in October 2005, said he has been working with hospital staff to make improvements in all areas and expects Simi Valley Hospital's score to go up.

Irish said the emergency room and patient-care tower expansions will help achieve the hospital's goals.

"We are seeing improvements as part of our ongoing development programs," he said. "We've got a ways to go yet, and we're getting there."

Irish said one major emphasis at the hospital is staff education to improve customer service.

"We want to gear up for this new hospital with outstanding customer service. That is a major emphasis right now."

"We're not only designing new programs and improving facilities, but we're improving the aesthetics. We're developing an outdoor food court in addition to our cafeteria. We're developing another healing garden. Our new lobby will have the sense of coming not into a hospital but a hotel."

"Our goal is to make a visit to the emergency department as comfortable as possible for our patients and guests," he said.

The first phase of the emergency room project expected to be finished before summer include new cabinetry, carpeting, floor tile, and lobby furniture.

Phase two of the project will include a fast-track system for relatively minor injuries and medical problems, including sore throats, sprains and minor cuts.

The patient-care tower construction, which was initially expected to cost about $35 million, now has a price tag estimated at $58 million, partly because of construction changes required by the state and partly because equipment and furnishings are now being included in the estimates, along with remodeling of some older parts of the hospital, officials said.

The funding is coming from a $16 million Federal Emergency Management Agency grant and the remainder from Adventist Health, which owns the hospital. The Simi Valley Hospital Foundation is also contributing to funding for the patient-care tower and other hospital improvements.

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CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1) A construction worker walks the scaffolding surrounding the new patient-care tower at Simi Valley Hospital on Friday.

(2) The patient-care tower at Simi Valley Hospital will add 144 patient rooms to the facility.

Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News