A new $215 million tower has finally opened at one of oldest hospitals in Los Angeles – more than four years after the original target date.
On Jan. 7, Dignity Health – California Hospital Medical Center in downtown opened a four-story, 140,000-square-foot tower that more than doubles the space for emergency facilities, greatly expands the hospital’s trauma center and features a new neonatal intensive care unit.
“The Grand Tower represents a significant investment in the health and well-being of our community,” said Jill Welton, market president for Dignity Health Southern California.
“This thoughtfully designed facility significantly expands CHMC’s emergency, trauma, and maternal care services, providing families with advanced care close to home, addresses critical health care gaps, and reinforces our mission to improve health equity for the 85,000 residents and 500,000 workers of downtown Los Angeles,” Welton added.
New tower for old hospital
California Hospital Medical Center was founded in 1887, making it one of the oldest hospitals in Los Angeles County. In the ensuing decades, the hospital moved to its current downtown location in the South Park district just east of the Los Angeles Convention Center and grew to its current size of 318 beds. In 2004, Catholic Healthcare West acquired the hospital. Then, in 2012, Catholic Healthcare West changed its name to Dignity Health.
Soon after, Dignity Health executives saw that the main acute care tower that was built in 1964 was stretched beyond capacity and in need of an extensive retrofit to comply with state seismic safety standards.
Rather than work with that old tower, in March 2018, Dignity Health executives unveiled a $215 million makeover for the California Hospital Medical Center campus, with a $205 million new hospital tower as the centerpiece. The old tower was to be turned into an outpatient facility.
The project was initially slated for completion in 2020, with Scottsdale, Arizona-based Devenney Group as the design firm San Francisco-based Swinerton Builders as the construction contractor.
But then the pandemic intervened, and hospital staff had to pivot to respond. As the pandemic receded, the tower construction project faced supply chain issues, like most projects at that time.
As for funding for the $215 million project, Dignity Health provided $165 million, with the remaining $50 million coming from a fundraising campaign by the hospital.
Expanded emergency, maternal health and neonatal services
Now that the Grand Tower is finally open, it features an array of expanded facilities and services for the downtown community. The 28,000-square-foot emergency department is more than twice the size of the previous 12,000-square-foot department. It also contains six trauma bays, up from two in the old tower.
The new tower also contains 47 exam rooms, up from 35 in the old tower. More exam rooms allow for more patients to be seen in a given period of time – as long as there is sufficient staffing.
Contrary to the trend at some other local hospitals that have recently closed their maternity wards – including USC Verdugo Hills Hospital in Glendale – this tower features expanded maternity and neonatal intensive care unit facilities. These include 28 private postpartum rooms, 24 private rooms in the NICU and three surgical suites.
“The opening of our new Grand Tower marks a transformative moment for health care in downtown Los Angeles,” said Alina Moran, president of Dignity Health – California Hospital Medical Center. “This state-of-the-art facility, made possible in part through generous philanthropic support, reinforces our commitment to providing advanced, equitable care that serves all Angelenos for generations to come.”
