Building Blocks
Two New Buildings on the USC Heath Sciences Campus are the Most Recent Components of an Expansion Dedicated to Excellence in Patient Care
Kicking up dust and occasionally blocking traffic, bulldozers and cement mixers have been rumbling through the streets surrounding the USC Health Sciences Campus. But out of the temporary chaos, order will soon follow.
And when the dust settles, USC University Hospital will be able
to offer patients significant improvements including reduced
waits for physicians and procedures, improved scheduling and
waiting rooms that are comfortable and relaxed.
The construction traffic is just the beginning of the plan to
erect two new buildings-the Healthcare Consultation Center II
and the Norris Tower expansion at USC University Hospital-which
will add greatly needed clinical space, an improved design for
outpatient services and additional parking.
Stephen Tullman, chief executive officer of USC University Hospital
and USC/Norris Cancer Hospital, says that the projects, which
will cost an estimated $170 million combined, will streamline
outpatient care and scheduling, consolidate disparate clinical
offices and provide room for new state-of-the-art equipment.
"Our current hospital is operating at capacity. We've had
remarkable success with our current clinical delivery system,
but now our biggest challenge is adding the needed capacity for
patients and physicians. These projects are designed to address
those needs," he says. "When they are completed, we
will be bigger and stronger and better, but still small enough
to meet the personal needs of patients."
USC and its partner, Tenet Healthcare Corporation, are funding
the projects-with USC constructing the Healthcare Consultation
Center II (HCC II) medical office building and Tenet erecting
the Norris Tower-both of which are scheduled for completion in
2004.
Construction work is well underway on the HCC II, located on
San Pablo Street adjacent to HCC I. The $49 million, 238,000-square-foot
medical office building was designed to allow medical practices
to expand or contract over time based on patient volumes.
The building will rise four stories high; an additional three
levels underground include two levels for patient parking. The
HCC II's expected completion is in April 2004.
HCC II will accommodate a new USC University Hospital Outpatient
Surgery Center and diagnostic imaging facilities, including MRI
and CT scanning. Other planned tenants include internal medicine,
orthopaedic surgery, psychiatry, anesthesia's pain management
program, neurology, head and neck surgery, gynecology and a multidisciplinary
medical clinic. The building will be connected to the USC University
Hospital by a tunnel.
Jeffry Huffman, M.D., president and chief executive officer of
USC Care Medical Group, Inc., says that combining outpatient
facilities in a central location away from inpatient care will
shorten waiting time and alleviate crowding.
"We have high expectations of our performance and we are
trying as hard as we can to meet those expectations. The best
thing about the new facility is that we'll have new office space,
new waiting room space and the real ability to provide higher
levels of service," he says. "And we're not going to
stop there. There's already an HCC III in our plans that would
be just north of the current HCC II."
The second building under construction is the 10-story Norris
Tower, an estimated $120 million project scheduled for completion
in December 2004. The project will add 11 operating rooms and
150 beds to USC University Hospital. Three floors of the tower
will also serve as the new home for the USC/Norris Cancer Hospital,
adding 60 new beds in the process. The space freed up at USC/Norris
Cancer Hospital will be converted to outpatient space and used
to expand the Harold E. and Henrietta C. Lee Breast Center. Additionally,
newly available space there will permit development of new urology
and colorectal centers.
Tullman underscored the need for additional operating rooms,
saying that OR time "is the most precious resource we have
on this campus. We've built three ORs in the last three years
and they have been booked to capacity since they opened."
To provide capacity in the interim, 26 additional medical/surgical
beds and four operating rooms (two inpatient, two outpatient)
were opened in 2001.
When the new buildings open, they will allow Keck School of Medicine
physicians and health care providers to deliver even higher levels
of patient care. Huffman says that the new projects have provided
a major morale boost for hospital employees and university faculty:
"This gives everyone a lot of optimism about our long-term
success. It shows that we're really planning for our future and
it improves our status as a major regional academic medical center."
He adds: "This is a great place to be-now and for years
to come."
Back Next Index