Loma Linda University Medical Center & Faculty Physicians, Redlands Community Hospital and Beaver Medical Group Commemorate Groundbreaking for the Beaumont Healthcare Center.

BEAUMONT, Calif. -- Four well-respected health care organizations came together today to break ground on a new healthcare center in Beaumont that will significantly enhance the access to medical services for families in the Inland Empire. Beaumont Mayor Jeff Fox also participated in the event.

Upon completion, the Beaumont Healthcare Center will offer comprehensive, high-quality medical services in an 85,000-square-foot facility. The center will serve the residents of Beaumont as well as the surrounding communities of Cherry Valley, Banning, Cabazon, Calimesa, Yucaipa and Oak Glen.

Loma Linda University Medical Center, Faculty Practice Plan of Loma Linda University School of Medicine, Redlands Community Hospital and Beaver Medical Group have collaborated for over two years on developing the new healthcare facility. When completed, the Beaumont Healthcare Center will include a medical office building, outpatient surgery center, urgent care, a variety of medical and surgical programs, and additional services such as imaging, a laboratory and physical therapy. Plans calls for completion by early 2009. The project is expected to cost $42 million.

"Our collaboration with Faculty Practice Plan of Loma Linda University School of Medicine, Redlands Community Hospital, and Beaver Medical Group marks an important new direction for LLUMC," said Ruthita J. Fike, Chief Executive Officer for Loma Linda University Medical Center. "The project is our first significant venture to provide LLUMC services outside our immediate campus. It is also the first time we have engaged in a partnership of such scope and magnitude with other health care providers to bring needed medical services to patients."

Loma Linda University Medical Center (LLUMC) is a tertiary care teaching hospital in the Riverside/San Bernardino area, and serves as the only Level 1 regional trauma center for Inyo, Mono, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties. LLUMC offers nearly 900 beds for patient care. The Medical Center operates some of the largest clinical programs in the United States in areas such as neonatal care and outpatient surgery, and is recognized as the international leader in infant heart transplantation and proton treatments for cancer. Each year, the institution admits more than 33,000 inpatients and serves roughly half a million outpatients.

"Our university has had a long tradition of pioneering important medical breakthroughs," noted Roger Hadley, M.D., Dean of the School of Medicine. "Our collaboration with the partners present today represents a breakthrough of a different kind. By teaming with LLUMC, Redlands Community Hospital and Beaver Medical Group, our physicians will be able to bring the medical expertise of teaching-hospital faculty members to patients who may never have otherwise been able to access our services."

The Faculty Practice Plan of Loma Linda University School of Medicine comprises over 600 physicians from more than 20 different physician group practices affiliated with the Medical Center. The group maintains nearly 20 satellite offices throughout the Inland Empire.

"Redlands Community Hospital has a great working relationship with Loma Linda University Medical Center, its faculty and Beaver Medical Group," said Jim Holmes, President and Chief Executive Officer of Redlands Community Hospital. "This project allows our organizations to build on that past affiliation to bring needed healthcare services to this community. By bringing outpatient services here to our patients, we hope to reduce their need to travel to us. Of course, our hospital will continue caring for patients when they need emergency medical services or to be admitted for more acute health care."

Redlands Community Hospital has been serving the local community for more than 100 years. The 176-bed hospital offers a full range of medical and surgical services, including maternity neonatal intensive care, orthopedics, psychiatric services and an emergency room that treated more than 41,000 patients in 2005, resulting in 6,164 admissions. The hospital performs nearly 6,500 surgeries a year and admitted over 13,000 patients in 2005. Over 2,600 of these patients were from the San Gorgonio Pass communities.

"The physicians of Beaver Medical Group have served the Inland Empire since 1945 and the healthcare needs of patients in this local community for well over a decade," said John Goodman, Administrator of Beaver Medical Group. "The Beaumont Healthcare Center introduces a new opportunity for Beaver Medical Group to serve the needs of our patients in this community. Our physicians appreciate the opportunity to participate with Redlands Community Hospital and Loma Linda University Medical Center & Faculty Physicians in the development of this important healthcare center."

Beaver Medical Group (BMG) has facilities in Redlands, Yucaipa, Highland, Colton and Banning. Founded in 1945, BMG is one of the largest multi-specialty medical groups in the Southern California, with over 140 physicians representing 25 medical specialties. Beaver Medical Group recently opened a second medical office building in the city of Banning, adjacent to an established location where BMG physicians have been caring for patients in the area for over a decade. The new medical office building enables Beaver Medical Group to bring additional physicians to the community and expand specialty care services.