John Muir Health Announces Opening of New Patient Care Tower

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. — John Muir Health officially opened The Tom and Billie Long Patient Care Tower at John Muir Medical Center, Walnut Creek to patients. The new 380,000-square-foot facility, which took three years and $612 million to complete, doubles the size of the campus.

“We worked closely with our physicians and staff, to ensure that every single detail – from access to outdoor spaces to plans to accommodate future technology to patient privacy to the colors and textures – was planned to support clinical excellence and provide the best possible patient experience,” said Michael Monaldo, vice president, Facilities Development and Corporate Real Estate, John Muir Health. 

The new building includes 242 patient rooms (230 private), three new inpatient surgical suites, expanded pre-operative and recovery areas, a rooftop helipad with elevators to carry trauma patients directly to the Emergency Department or operating room, 24 large, private critical care rooms, a floor dedicated to orthopedics and inpatient rehabilitation, 16 beds dedicated to pediatrics, as well as 35 postpartum beds and 35 neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) beds in the new Birth Center. Other major areas of expansion include the final phase of the Emergency Department with 12 private treatment rooms added for a total of 44 to accommodate 65,000 visits a year, as well as lab and imaging services near the main entrance to provide more convenient access for outpatients.

“The new patient care tower will enable our award-winning team of physicians, nurses and staff to continue delivering high-quality, specialized care close to home so patients don’t have to travel outside of their community,” said Terence Chen, M.D., neurosurgeon and chief of the medical staff at John Muir Medical Center, Walnut Creek. “We offer a range of services, including neurosurgery, orthopedics, rehabilitation, cardiology, oncology and high-risk obstetrics, as well as an expanded ICU, a Level III NICU and a Level II trauma center, not usually available at a community hospital.”

The Tom and Billie Long Patient Care Tower is part of John Muir Health’s $800 million investment in new hospital facilities in Concord and Walnut Creek. John Muir Health Foundation, the nonprofit fundraising organization for John Muir Health, has raised $55 million in support of the hospital expansion projects as part of its Breaking New Ground Right Here Capital Campaign. This total includes a $9.5 million lead gift from the Thomas J. Long Foundation for the Walnut Creek patient care tower and more than $2 million raised by 1,600 John Muir Health employees.

John Muir Health’s building projects are opening well before the state’s January 1, 2013 seismic compliance deadline with The Hofmann Family Patient Care Tower at John Muir Medical Center, Concord having opened November 16, 2010. Both new towers are built to the state’s strictest seismic standards to be fully operational after a major earthquake. Remaining fully operational after a major earthquake is crucial to John Muir Medical Center, Walnut Creek’s role as the only designated trauma center for Contra Costa and parts of Solano counties.

“With this project, we are planning, not just for the next few years, but for the future health care needs of our community,” said Willemsen. “We have been part of the community for nearly 50 years and this new addition allows us to care for patients for generations to come.”

Editor’s Note: Take a peek inside this new patient care tower and read complete project details in the upcoming May/June issue of MCD magazine.
Photo courtesy of Ratcliff.