Hospital Breaks Ground on New Building

More than 200 clergy, business leaders and personnel from White Memorial Medical Center in Boyle Heights gathered Thursday to break ground on a $183-million main hospital building.

The old structure will be torn down after the new 359-bed acute-care building opens in 2005.

The new building, to be built next to the old one, is seen by hospital administrators and community leaders as a crucial part of the health-care safety net in the Eastside community. White Memorial and nearby County-USC Hospital handle a large number of indigent patients.

The new hospital joins several other public works projects, including refurbished public housing and a planned light-rail corridor, that community leaders hope will help revitalize Boyle Heights.

“This is more than a building we’re putting up. It is a heartbeat of the community,” said Los Angeles City Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa. “It is going to be a place second to none in the community.”

The new hospital is primarily designed to meet stringent earthquake-retrofit regulations passed by the state after the 1994 Northridge earthquake. Twenty-three hospitals in Southern California suffered more than $3 billion in damage from the quake and were forced to suspend some or all services.

The subsequent regulations require that all hospital buildings with patient beds be able to withstand a major earthquake or be taken out of service by 2008.

Numerous hospitals in Southern California have various construction projects underway to meet the requirements.

White Memorial is among a handful of hospitals that decided to erect entirely new buildings to meet the requirements, said Albert Deininger, a hospital vice president.

In addition to stronger construction, the new hospital will feature state-of-the-art technology.

“It’s rewarding to see that the dream is starting to become reality,” said Thomas Mostert, chairman of the board of Adventist Health, which operates the hospital. “The next step is to be here to open the door and see the dream become total reality.”