Expansion of Hospital Damaged in Quake OKd
After nearly two years of negotiations among hospital and city officials, the City Council approved plans for the $270-million expansion of St. John’s Health Center.
Late Tuesday, the council voted 6 to 1 in favor of a development agreement that allows for the piecemeal demolition of the 56-year-old hospital, which was badly damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake.
A new 150-room hospital and outpatient treatment center is set for completion by 2008.
Subsequent development, to be completed over 55 years, will include construction of a health and wellness center and a 140,000-square-foot addition to the John Wayne Cancer Institute.
One thing that had stood in the way of an agreement was the council’s request that the hospital provide on-site care for 84 children of employees. Under the compromise, Saint John’s will provide care for 49 children and pay $114,000 annually for five years to the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District for student health care.
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