Hospital Renovation Near Completion

A 16-year renovation at St. Francis Medical Center is expected to be completed this month, hospital officials said. A grand opening is set April 30.

The $150-million project, which slashed the number of hospital rooms from 512 to 365 but increased the size of other facilities, began in 1984. It has progressed slowly because hospital administrators did not want the construction to interfere with hospital services.

The work was further delayed by the 1994 Northridge earthquake, which forced designers to redraw plans in order to make seismic improvements.

The hospital gained a larger maternity ward, emergency room and trauma center and a new medical office building and parking structure. The project’s hallmark feature--a $75-million, eight-story patient tower--was recently completed.