Hospital Representatives to Engage Public Over Proposed West Tower Annex
By Gus Herrera
Pasadena’s Huntington Hospital, which was ranked the fourth best hospital in the Los Angeles area and the number nine overall best hospital in California by U.S. News & World Report this past year, will soon be undergoing some major changes.
Last week, the city’s planning commission met to discuss a proposed amendment to the hospital’s master plan that would carry out a 15-year, eight-phase project, primarily focused on bringing the facilities up to par with the state’s seismic requirements.
Following the infamous 1994 Northridge Earthquake, which caused extensive damage to hospitals all throughout Greater Los Angeles (11 of which were forced into closure), the state signed the Hospital Facilities Seismic Safety Act, a bill that requires hospitals to be in compliance with the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development’s standards. According to city staff’s report, the bill originally required facilities to be in compliance by 2008, but legislation subsequently extended that deadline to 2020.
As the only trauma center serving the San Gabriel Valley, it is imperative that Huntington’s 29-acre site, which has been in use since 1902, undergo seismic retrofitting.
The project will include the demolition of an existing 250,000 square feet of facilities, to be replaced by the construction of approximately 217,300 square feet of buildings.
The following buildings will be demolished: 1921, 1938, and Valentine Buildings; and two construction management buildings at 620-624 S. Pasadena Ave.
Construction will include new additions to the La Vina and Wingate Buildings, as well as the central plant.
According to staff’s report, additional improvements will include:
– Renovations to existing East Tower, specifically new operating rooms and laboratories.
– Interior re-modeling to La Vina Building.
– Additional 17 hospital beds, raising total number to 642.
– Mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and data utility infrastructure improvements.
– New emergency power upgrades to East Tower, East Tower Annex, and La Vina Building.
– Improved lighting and signage throughout campus.
The two most significant aspects of the plan are a new 200,000 square foot, 90-foot-tall West Tower Annex and the development of a central garden area.
These two items, particularly the new tower, raised some issues with the public – many residents took issue with the height of the proposed structure. Similarly, when the project went before the design commission this past June, the height and placement of the tower were also a topic of concern.
Attorney Scott Jenkins spoke on behalf of the hospital and, although he was open-minded to the public and committee’s concerns, he defended both features as integral to the hospital’s vision.
In response to the criticism of the proposed tower’s height, he informed the planning commission of the importance and efficiency of vertical movement throughout hospitals. Not only do taller building make it easier to allow natural light (studies show natural light improves recovery time) to enter patient’s rooms, they also allow related departments to be stacked, thus facilitating the movement of patients in a more effective manner.
“Flat buildings result in having to travel longer distances,” said Jenkins, “especially in trauma cases, time is incredibly important … you don’t have time to be pushing people way down a corridor, it may look great in movies or TV shows when you see people running around, but in real life that can lead to somebody’s death.”
Some proposed alternatives suggested that the tower be more centrally-located on the hospital’s campus, allowing for further setback from the street, but that would eliminate the ability to construct the central garden area, a feature which the hospital greatly desires.
“[People need] to have a place where they can go outside, sit down and recoup and recapture their thoughts. What [happens] on a day-to-day basis, minute-by-minute throughout the day, is life and death stuff … people need to have a place, other than just the cafeteria, where they can go … and recoup their sanity,” said Jenkins.
The planning commission, sympathetic to both sides of the argument, therefore voted to allow for additional dialogue between hospital representatives and neighbors before approving the plan.
In addition to the height/placement of the proposed West Tower Annex, the upcoming discussions will also cover the controversial Orange Wood shopping mall entrance, directly across California Boulevard from the hospital’s Drexel Place entrance. For quite some time, residents and commissioners alike have shown much concern for this intersection, seeing as the two entrances do not line up.
Those interested in participating in these discussions should stay tuned to the commission’s upcoming January meeting agendas, as the item is expected to be re-noticed following the new year. Once approved by the planning commission, the next (and final) step would be for the project to go before city council.
