Valencia Hospital Plans Towering Expansion

Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital recently hired an architectural firm and builder to construct a 160,000-square-foot, six-story tower on its Valencia campus. The $150 million project will add 116 beds to the non-profit Valencia hospital, as well as two delivery rooms, a café and extra space for future development. The project on vacant land behind the hospital’s two main buildings will start late next year with a reconstruction of the hospital’s loading dock to allow better use of the lot. The new tower is scheduled for completion in 2018. “Many days we are maxed out on hospital beds, and we have very few private rooms, so that’s why we are doing this,” said John Schleif, chief operating officer. After construction, the hospital’s bed count will rise from 238 to 354. HMC Architects in Los Angeles and Bernards, a general contractor in San Fernando, jointly won the job to design and build the tower. The designers plan to integrate the exterior look of the tower with existing buildings. Schleif said one floor of the tower has no planned use as yet. Hospital officials could turn it into another patient floor, or could start an outpatient clinic. Also, the new tower will feature a rooftop helipad that provides quick access to the emergency room. Currently, the hospital’s helipad is on top of a parking structure. The hospital is preparing a major fundraising campaign and plans to borrow about $110 million to fund construction. Organizing the OR Private companies that specialize in running outpatient facilities are making inroads in Glendale. In September, Glendale Adventist Medical Center and an affiliated doctors group re-opened a clinic called the Physicians Adventist Surgery Center. The clinic is a joint venture of the doctors and the hospital, but to run the day-to-day operations, they hired ASD Management, a Dallas firm specializing in running ambulatory care facilities. The surgical center has more than 45 doctors and is located in the Lee Hughes Medical Building on the campus of the hospital. The 15,000-square-foot center has four surgical suites, a general procedure room, two recovery rooms and a reception area. Meanwhile, USC announced last month the formation of a strategic alliance with Surgical Care Affiliates Inc. to manage surgery centers in the Los Angeles region, staring with the one in Glendale. Surgical Care is a publicly traded company in Deerfield, Ill. that provides surgery management services. The university will supply the surgeons and Surgical Care will run the operating rooms with the goal of increasing efficiency and lowering costs. “Healthcare is changing rapidly and requires greater efficiencies with tighter economic constraints,” said Dr. Philip Merritt, medical director at Physicians Adventist Surgery Center, in a statement. “Our goal is to offer convenience, affordable outpatient surgical services while keeping our patients safe.” Home-Like Rehab Topanga Terrace Rehabilitation and Subacute has opened a 12-bed “home-like” facility for patients with respiratory, rehabilitation, neuromuscular, orthopedic and medically complex conditions. The Villas at Topanga Terrace will offer patients on ventilators and who have had tracheostomies a quiet place to recover in a less institutional setting, the company said in an announcement. The 6,000-square-foot facility has six rooms, each with two beds, plus a full kitchen, living room and activity room. “It is almost like being at home, but with round-the-clock support of a strong nursing and rehabilitation team,” said Surena Boyce, vice president at Health Quality Management Group of Encino, which owns Topanga Terrace. Boyce declined to give prices at the Villas, saying it depends on the needs of the patient. It is located at 22123 Roscoe Blvd. in Canoga Park. Simi Solution By law, non-profit hospitals must issue a report every three years to assess how to improve health in their community. Rather than take it as a regulatory burden, Chief Executive Kim Milstein used the report to launch a popular new program at Simi Valley Hospital. At a meeting with community leaders to prepare the report, hospital officials learned that heroin use was spiking in Simi Valley. They developed an acute detox program to stem the epidemic. Launched early this year, the program signed up 50 people in its first seven months. It consists of three to four days of supervised withdrawl from the drug. “For people whose addictions are serious, to stop cold turkey is medically dangerous,” Milstein said. Julia Feig, head of the emergency department, said heroin addiction in Simi often starts with a doctor prescription for morphine and then progresses to street drugs. In addition to detox, the program involves drug tests for high-school students whose parents give permission. Milstein said the hospital pays the costs associated with the program. “The detox and drug screening program is a prime example of community benefit programs offered by California’s non-profit hospitals,” said the California Hospital Association, a Sacramento trade group, in a statement. Staff Writer Joel Russell can be reached at (818) 316-3124 or [email protected].