Caring for the Community – Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla’s New Tower
Caring for the Community – Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla’s New Tower
Advanced medical facility opens in June
Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla North Tower
After more than eight years of planning and construction, Scripps will soon welcome a new hospital tower on the campus of Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla.
Opening in June 2025, the eight-floor, 420,000-square-foot tower will include an array of medical services and advanced technology.
From operating rooms, comprehensive imaging and gastrointestinal labs to a dedicated women’s center spanning three floors, the new facility will enhance and expand Scripps’ services and its 100-year legacy of quality health care in San Diego. Founded through a philanthropic gift from Ellen Browning Scripps in 1924, the nonprofit organization continues to grow, thanks to community support.
Healing-focused design
A mirror image of the hospital’s existing Prebys Cardiovascular Institute, the new North Tower will feature the latest in medical technology, paired with an innovative design to create an optimal healing environment.
Private patient rooms will feature floor-to-ceiling windows that let in natural light to help promote recovery.
The building’s curves help minimize the distance between patients and caregivers and small alcoves between rooms put nurses closer to their patients. All of these features will allow Scripps’ doctors, nurses and other clinical staff to provide care more efficiently, while ensuring an unmatched health care experience for patients.
“This incredible hospital tower reflects our commitment to the San Diego community, as well as decades of careful strategy and financial planning. We need to honor our past and look forward to future generations, which means growing and always reinvesting in Scripps, our mission and the health care we provide.” — Chris Van Gorder, Scripps Health president and CEO
Dedicated to patient-centered caring
Opening a new hospital is always a cause for celebration. It was just over 100 years ago that Scripps opened its first hospital in downtown La Jolla. Now a century later, the latest hospital tower on the Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla campus is reflective of how far health care has advanced and how much is still to come.
“This incredible hospital tower reflects our commitment to the San Diego community, as well as decades of careful strategy and financial planning,” says Chris Van Gorder, Scripps Health president and CEO. “We need to honor our past and look forward to future generations, which means growing and always reinvesting in Scripps, our mission and the health care we provide.”
With 149 licensed beds, nine new state-of-the-art operating rooms, multiple high-tech imaging suites, laboratory services and more, the new hospital tower both modernizes and potentially expands health care access and services on the campus. A women’s center is among the facility’s highlights, including a birth center, NICU, postpartum patient floor and all the important extra touches.
Together with the Prebys Cardiovascular Institute, Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla moves into a new era of health care with 100 years’ experience and fresh excitement for the future.
“At Scripps, we ask ourselves, ‘How can we provide the best care and the best experience for our patients and families? And this new tower will help us do just that,’ says Van Gorder. “We want to thank our incredible Board of Trustees, donors, patients and staff for their dedication and help in bringing this vision to life. Scripps is committed to our health care mission across San Diego County. and there will be more to come.”
Leading-edge surgical care
The nine operating rooms located on the second floor of the new tower will allow Scripps to perform a greater number of surgical procedures on both an inpatient and outpatient basis. These ORs were made possible through funding by the Prebys Foundation and feature state-of-the-art surgical technology, including two rooms equipped with robotic surgery equipment. There are two dedicated C-section rooms, as well as 40 flexible pre- and post-surgical rooms and an additional 12 observation beds.
A special place for mom and baby
One of the highlights of the new hospital tower is a dedicated women’s center. Spanning three floors, it provides high quality maternity care and services while offering a number of other special touches. It includes a labor and delivery floor with 13 private birthing suites and five antepartum rooms. Six of these spacious birthing rooms also include tubs to help with pain management during the labor process. A new neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) adds 24 beds with expert care of these newborns continuing to be provided by Rady Children’s Health.
The mother-baby floor includes all private rooms to help mothers recover following labor. The unit’s spa-like color palette helps reflect the joy that comes with welcoming a new baby and includes a nursery with views of a calming rooftop garden. A boutique is also located on the floor offering special items designed to support a newborn mother’s needs.
Tools to see things clearly
MRI, CT and ultrasound are all among the comprehensive imaging services that will be available in the tower. These services include three interventional radiology suites, two of which have bi-plane (multi-camera) capabilities that provide simultaneous front and side views of the patient, allowing images to be obtained quicker and with less radiation exposure.
Larger monitors and higher resolution scans will further augment clarity of the images captured. Additionally, the spaciousness of these rooms and improved air exchanges will help enhance patient comfort during their imaging procedure.
This content appeared in San Diego Health, a publication in partnership between Scripps and San Diego Magazine that celebrates the healthy spirit of San Diego.
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