ORANGE : Children Sign Last Hospital Beam

Young patients at Children’s Hospital of Orange County stepped into the sunshine Monday to sign the steel beam that will top the hospital’s new, 200-bed acute care facility.

About 25 patients, some in wheelchairs and others trailing IV’s, grabbed colored magic markers to decorate the final eight-foot beam of the new six-story structure.

“For some of them, we had to get three or four of us under the beam and sort of lift it so some of the kids who are severely limited to wheelchairs could sign it,” said Brian Mottishaw, assistant administrator of buildings and communications.

Some patients simply printed their names on the white-coated beam, while others embellished their signatures with hearts and drawings, Mottishaw said. Those who helped to decorate the beam will see it bolted into place at a special ceremony Thursday, when a 200-foot crane will hoist it to the top of the structure.

“We’re building it for them and it’s nice for them to be part of it,” he said. “Their signatures will last as long as this new hospital lasts.”

Construction of the new facility, which will replace the current complex at Main Street and La Veta Avenue, began in January and should be completed by October, 1991, Mottishaw said.

“We’ve had no need for television recently,” Mottishaw said. “(The children) have had their noses to the window with this thing going up.”