FOUNTAIN VALLEY : Hospital Expands, Adds New Services

Fountain Valley Regional Hospital and Medical Center completed an expansion that includes a psychiatric facility for the elderly and a transitional care unit for patients needing less acute hospital services.

An existing four-story building was refurbished to accommodate the two new facilities.

The expansion adds 120 beds, and once all the beds are licensed, the hospital will have 413 beds, which will make it the fourth largest hospital in the county.

“We see ourselves remaining as a major provider of health care so that people feel that they can get most any service,” hospital administrator Richard E. Butler said.

The 22-year-old, physician-owned hospital at Euclid Street and Warner Avenue also plans to build a four-story, 75,000-square-foot medical office building, which would primarily be dedicated to cancer treatment and services, Butler said.

On Tuesday, the City Council will consider approving the $8.5-million medical office building.

Future developments proposed include a senior housing project, Butler said. The transitional care facility will offer care at a lower cost because patients don’t need the acute services offered at the main hospital. It will serve patients recovering from surgeries or other less acute illnesses.

Steven C. Sampson, program director of the geropsychiatric unit, said the facility is geared to treat patients 55 and older who suffer from depression and other mental health problems.

The facility will also offer an out-patient day program beginning later this month or early September.

“We get a folks who are depressed and withdrawn from life and have anxiety,” he said. “We help them to get coping skills--new ways of handling things and to deal with their emotions.

“Part of our job is to enhance their quality of life,” he said, adding that “we want to foster autonomy and not dependence. We want them to be more involved in life and more vibrant.”