The renowned Grossman Burn Center will leave its longtime home at Sherman Oaks Hospital for West Hills Hospital & Medical Center early next year, the center and hospital said Tuesday.

West Hills plans to convert a medical-surgery ward at its existing hospital for the center’s use, said West Hills Chief Executive Beverly Gilmore, who approached Grossman a few months ago after hearing its owners were looking for a new home.

The 212 bed West Hills Hospital, owned by Hospital Corp. of America, is completing a $60-million expansion that include a new patient wing and will increase the number of licensed beds by 18.

The Grossman unit will be comprised of 30 regular beds and eight intensive-care beds. The hospital also expects to add 35 staff, in addition to the doctors already affiliated with Grossman.

The hospital expects to spend less than $5 million for upgrades for the center, including installation of a hyperbaric oxygen unit, Gilmore said.

It had been expected that a high-cost specialty facility such as Grossman might leave Sherman Oaks Hospital after it was acquired by Prime Healthcare Services Inc. in 2006. Victorville-based Prime’s business model focuses on operating community hospitals with tight cost controls.

“After three decades in Sherman Oaks, the decision to move was not one we made lightly, but West Hills Hospital presented us with opportunities and advantages that we could not find anywhere else,” co-director Dr. Peter H. Grossman said in a statement.