Los Robles Medical Center Plans $6-Million Expansion

At a time when many hospitals are retrenching, Los Robles Regional Medical Center in Thousand Oaks has announced a $6.5-million renovation and expansion plan that will include a new neonatal intensive care unit.

Plans call for construction of two additional surgical rooms and renovation of the hospital’s entire obstetrics unit, with $800,000 earmarked for a new 10-bed neonatal care facility.

Construction, which will be done in three phases, will begin in July and is expected to be completed by May, 1994.

Hospital officials said they are most excited about the new neonatal intensive care unit.

Now, babies born prematurely are transferred to hospitals in Ventura or the San Fernando Valley, officials said. Last year, Los Robles transferred an average of one baby a week to other hospitals to receive special care.

“Babies should be cared for where they’re delivered,” said Dr. Paul Hinkes, a specialist in newborn care at Los Robles.

Dr. Simon Boostanfar, chairman of the hospital’s pediatrics department, said he has been pushing for an intensive care unit since coming to the hospital 14 years ago.

Robert L. Quist, executive officer of Los Robles, said the hospital hopes to become a major referral center for premature newborns delivered in other hospitals in the county as well as in the San Fernando Valley.

Work on the new intensive care unit will begin in early July as part of the first phase of the construction plan, Quist said.

The second phase calls for a $2.7-million renovation of the hospital’s obstetrics unit. When completed, the unit will include five new rooms for labor, delivery and recovery.

Los Robles patients now have to labor in one room, deliver in another and recover in a third, said Susan Poprock, administrative supervisor of the obstetrics unit.

The new rooms will be designed and furnished to resemble a comfortable studio apartment rather than a hospital room, Poprock said. Lighting and medical equipment will be hidden, she said.

The obstetrics unit is one of the hospital’s biggest revenue generators, with Los Robles delivering more than 1,000 babies each year, officials said.

The third phase of the project will involve construction of a new 4,600-square-foot area that will add two additional surgical rooms, at an estimated cost of $1.6 million.

“Over the years our surgical programs have continued to grow,” Quist said. “We did over 300 open-heart surgeries last year. We believe this addition will take a great deal of stress off our surgery schedule.”

Meanwhile, work has already begun on improving the hospital’s heating and cooling system, at a cost of $1.6 million.