ORANGE : CHOC Invites Public to ‘Grand Opening’
Children and parents are invited to a free concert for kids, a block building contest and plenty of clowns at Sunday’s “grand opening” of a new main building for Children’s Hospital of Orange County.
The new hospital--a 191-bed, $57-million, state-of-the-art medical center--will begin accepting patients in early November, replacing the outdated 161-bed building next door that has served children since 1974. But with final state approval expected in a week, CHOC officials are celebrating Sunday with a series of free events.
From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., parents and children can explore the new hospital’s six floors, studying computerized monitors in neonatal intensive care and viewing bubble-like “isolation rooms” for immune-suppressed children.
Also Sunday, children’s folk singer Joanie Bartels, author of such toddler hits as “Rock-a-bye Baby” and “Wake Up Feet,” will perform free at 12:30 p.m. and again at 2:30 p.m.
Other activities include a Lego building-block contest at 10 a.m., face painting from 10 a.m to 4 p.m., appearances by clowns and a noon dedication ceremony featuring a parade of 40 former CHOC patients. Also at 10:55 a.m., the hospital’s mascot, CHOCO Bear, will arrive by helicopter on the new rooftop helipad.
CHOC is at 455 S. Main Street in Orange on the corner of Main Street and La Veta Avenue
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