IRVINE : Hospital Opening Is Smooth Operation

Considering that he didn’t want to be in a hospital, computer worker Brad Fuller was enjoying the experience a little bit Wednesday.

As one of the first patients at Irvine Medical Center, Orange County’s first new hospital in 20 years, Fuller, 42, said he felt like “king for a day.”

“As I understand it, I have an entire floor to myself,” he said, adding that the nurses were so attentive that “you get spoiled.”

The hospital’s opening--10 years in the making--had been delayed repeatedly during the past year, but when it finally occurred Wednesday it was remarkably free of glitches, spokeswoman Lizz Mishreki said.

The 177-bed hospital opened officially for emergencies at 7 a.m. and its first patient, Kitonya Porter of Oceanside, was brought in by paramedics 55 minutes later.

Porter, who suffered a concussion, didn’t feel much like talking about her stay, Mishreki said. But Fuller, the second emergency case, brought in at 9:20 a.m. after he fainted at work, was feeling downright sociable by day’s end. Though Fuller was undergoing tests to determine why he lost consciousness, he not only consented to interviews but also accepted visits from his parents and from co-workers at Printronix, an Irvine computer manufacturer.

Mishreki said the hospital was quickly getting up to speed, with a full day of elective surgeries scheduled today, starting at 7:30 a.m.

Also, the hospital was expecting to deliver its first baby late Wednesday or early this morning. The mother-to-be checked in around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday to have her labor induced, Mishreki said, adding that another 14 babies are expected to be delivered there later this week.

To properly celebrate its opening, the hospital is giving the first boy and girl born there annuities for their college education, and the next 98 newborns are to receive U.S. Savings Bonds.

Some 400 staffers, or “team-members,” are on duty at the new hospital and more than 600 doctors have privileges there. Doctors entered the new hospital in style Wednesday, Mishreki said. Each walked into the hospital across a red carpet, then received a white carnation boutonniere.