The new $829 million Ronald Reagan Medical Center opened its doors last month, culminating years of construction and planning.
The 1-million-square-foot building contains 520 beds and includes the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, Mattel Children’s Hospital UCLA and Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA.
Funding for the construction came from a variety of sources. The Federal Emergency Management Agency provided $432 million in earthquake relief toward the project, and the state of California provided another $44 million.
Private donors contributed nearly $300 million, including a $150 million gift pledged in Ronald Reagan’s honor by a group of civic and cultural leaders. The balance of funding came from hospital financing and the proceeds of bond sales.
The final step in the process was the relocation of 275 hospital patients and 60 psychiatric patients to the new facility. The move was the result of years of planning and coordination and involved millions of dollars worth of equipment and thousands of staff members.
The hospital has one nursing station for every 26 beds. All information is managed electronically, including patient charts.
The operating rooms are equipped with camera feeds and monitors. Surgeries are displayed on monitors in the OR and can be transmitted to other facilities.
Surgeons, using voice-activated controls, can select from three camera feeds, annotate over images, record the procedure on DVD, bring up patient data and images and participate in a videoconference during the surgery.
Hospital executivs say the building emphasizes personal attention to patients and holistic healing.
“The new Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center embraces the idea that good architecture is an integral part of the healing process,” said C.C. Pei, son of architect I.M. Pei, who designed the hospital.
“We worked hard to create a design that not only meets the project’s technical and scientific goals but also creates an environment that is cheerful, inspirational and intimate, despite its large size. We’ve aimed to design an environment for people, not just machines.”