UCLA Unveils State-of-the-Art Emergency Center to Serve Westside Community

SANTA MONICA, Calif., July 13 /PRNewswire/ — Physicians, hospital employees and hospital leadership will join community members at an open-house event on Sunday, July 15, to celebrate the opening of Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center and Orthopaedic Hospital’s new emergency center. Known as the Nethercutt Emergency Center, the new ER will serve the Westside community and beyond, and will feature new life-saving, top-of-the-line technology in much larger, more comfortable rooms to provide even better care to patients. The preview event will include tours of the facility, health screenings, children’s activities and food and entertainment for community members of all ages. The new facility officially opens to patients on July 25.

“Given that so many other emergency rooms across the country and especially here in Los Angeles have been forced to shut down, we’re very proud to be opening this new facility,” said Dr. Wally Ghurabi, medical director of Nethercutt Emergency Center. “This is truly the ER of the future — and it will set a new standard for emergency medicine in West Los Angeles.”

The 16,000-square-foot Nethercutt Emergency Center contains several innovative features that will enable Santa Monica-UCLA to better meet the needs of the nearly 30,000 patients who annually seek emergency care at the hospital. Revolutionizing how emergency patients are evaluated and treated, the facility is equipped with an onsite 64-slice CT Scanner that generates better, faster images while exposing patients to less radiation. In doing so, it enables more rapid diagnosis of conditions such as chest pain, stroke and breathing disorders. Additional features include digital X-ray technology, state-of-the-art monitoring equipment, decontamination showers, isolation rooms and an automated medication dispensing system.

The center will open simultaneously with a new, 9,000-square-foot laboratory featuring the latest chemistry, hematology and blood-bank analyzers. The two facilities will be linked by a pneumatic tube system that should result in faster turnaround times for lab results and, ultimately, better service.

“Every patient who comes to us deserves the best,” said Dr. David Feinberg, CEO of UCLA Hospital System and interim associate vice chancellor. “And every one of them, when they leave us, should be an ambassador to tell others about the great care and service they received at our new Nethercutt Emergency Center.”

The entire ER has been designed to provide more private, compassionate and efficient care to all patients. Examples of upgrades range from a special, child-friendly pediatrics room to exam rooms that offer better privacy and versatility, to a clinical decision unit where patients will be continuously monitored before being admitted to the hospital or discharged home.

Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center and Orthopaedic Hospital Rebuilding Project

After the 1994 Northridge earthquake damaged portions of Santa Monica-UCLA’s existing medical complex, hospital leadership embarked on a mission to bring the medical center up to the latest seismic safety standards and better serve the community’s changing demographics and healthcare needs. When completed, the 271-bed replacement hospital will contain 315,000 square feet of new space and connect to the existing Merle Norman Pavilion, which is undergoing renovation as part of the project.

Boasting an inviting, user-friendly design compatible with the hospital’s neighborhood setting, the new Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center and Orthopaedic Hospital was designed by prominent New York architect Robert A.M. Stern, who is dean of the Yale School of Architecture, in conjunction with CO Architects (formerly Anshen + Allen Los Angeles). The unique design features a modified Northern Italian architectural style similar to original buildings on the UCLA campus. Envisioned as a patient and family-focused environment, the new facility emphasizes daylight and views to outdoor gardens. More than 25 percent of the new medical campus will be devoted to green and open spaces.

“This is an exciting introduction to our new medical campus coming online in the next three years,” said Posie Carpenter, chief administrative officer of Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center and Orthopaedic Hospital. “We have always been committed to providing the best care possible. Now, we have a top-of-the-line facility equipped with cutting-edge technology to match the expertise of our outstanding emergency care team.”

Located on the ground level of the new Southwest Wing on 15th Street, just north of Arizona Avenue, the opening of the new Nethercutt Emergency Center on July 25 will trigger a series of events instrumental to the completion of the new hospital. Officials expect the rest of the new hospital, including the Orthopaedic, North and Central wings, to be completed in 2010. Final project completion will occur in 2011, following demolition of the existing 9-story Tower building on 15th Street.

   Project highlights include:   --  The Orthopaedic Hospital facility, featuring an outpatient clinic,       UCLA Department of Orthopaedics administrative and faculty offices,       other administrative offices and a library.   --  A new Birthing Center, featuring a 16-bassinet Neonatal Intensive Care       Unit and a new Labor and Delivery Unit with comfortable, homelike       rooms   --  A new Critical Care Unit with state-of-the-art medical equipment and       360-degree access to patients.   --  Six new, state-of-the-art Operating Rooms.   --  Patient rooms featuring family space and comfortable sleeper chairs       for rooming-in.   --  Cutting-edge medical equipment and integrated communications       technology.   --  A new cafeteria with both indoor and outdoor seating areas.   

*The community open house celebration will be held on Sunday, July 15 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the new Nethercutt Emergency Center on 15th Street between Arizona Ave. and Wilshire Blvd. in Santa Monica. Parking is available in the structure located at 1311 16th Street.

About UCLA Health System

Since 1955, UCLA has been recognized as a leader in patient care, medical research and teaching, and its medical center has been ranked the No. 1 hospital in the western U.S. for the past 17 years by U.S. News & World Report. Offering patients of all ages a wide range of services and comprehensive care, from routine to highly specialized medical and surgical treatment and programs in geriatric, adult, adolescent and child psychiatry, UCLA Health System includes the UCLA Medical Center (soon to be recognized as the Ronald Regan UCLA Medical Center), Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center and Orthopaedic Hospital, the Stewart and Lynda Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital, and Mattel Children’s Hospital UCLA.

   SM-UCLA & OH: Ted Braun   (310) 319-4567   Hill & Knowlton: Summer Macey   (310) 633-9428  

UCLA Health System

CONTACT: Ted Braun of Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center and OrthopaedicHospital, +1-310-319-4567; Summer Macey of Hill & Knowlton, +1-310-633-9428,for UCLA Health System