UCLA Breaks Ground for $1.3-Billion Medical Complex

Amid the rubble of construction debris and the revving of heavy equipment, UCLA celebrated the start of construction Tuesday of a new and vast $1.3-billion hospital and research center--the largest and most ambitious building project ever undertaken by the University of California.

The planned complex has been billed as the most technologically advanced and patient-friendly medical center in the world, and will replace UCLA’s existing, quake-damaged medical center. A major chunk of funding for the center, which was designed by noted architect I.M. Pei, will come from the Federal Emergency Management Administration.

During Tuesday’s ceremony at the southern end of the Westwood campus, several hundred spectators, city officials and project fund-raisers donned ceremonial hard hats and snapped up commemorative test tubes filled with construction dirt.

Planners said the center’s 10-story, 1-million-square-foot hospital would be much more comfortable for patients and visitors than the 1950s-era hospital just across Westwood Place.

The new 525-bed hospital will provide patients with bedside computers connecting them with medical records, informational videos and the Internet

“This hospital, as it’s designed, will provide a sense of peace and well-being that hospitals do not usually bring to patients because of their institutional nature,” said Dr. Gerald Levey, provost and dean at UCLA’s school of medicine.

Among those dignitaries who attended the groundbreaking were UCLA Chancellor Albert Carnesale, U.S. Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Los Angeles), Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan and onetime Hollywood super agent Michael Ovitz. A UCLA alumnus, Ovitz is helping to raise funds for the center, along with grocery chain executive Ron Burkle.

The project is half-funded. Levey said he is optimistic that private donors would fill the gap, but that loans would make up any shortfall.

The hospital, which is expected to open in 2004, will cost $700 million. FEMA will provide $432 million in earthquake relief, and the state will provide $44 million. Among private donors, toy manufacturer Mattel has pledged $25 million for a children’s medical center.

UCLA’s existing hospital suffered damage in the Northridge earthquake in 1994, and retrofitting would not meet current seismic standards, officials said. It will be used as a research facility.

Work began in August, when a parking structure was demolished. Several other campus buildings will be torn down and services moved to other UCLA areas.