By Daily Press staff
Saint John’s Health Center, which was closed for nine months after the Northridge Earthquake, is putting the final touches on a new inpatient facility, specifically designed to withstand a quake with force levels twice those of the 1994 tremble.
The deadly quake shook the hospital with devastating force in 1994 and caused severe structural damage, forcing the hospital to close.
As the creation of the new Saint John’s began to take shape in the months following the quake’s aftermath, hospital officials made a key decision early on to devote a substantial portion of their $314 million construction budget to a state-of-the-art structural system that would keep the facilities operational during a quake.
The estimated final cost of the base isolation system for the entire project, which includes 192 base isolators, is between $12 and $15 million. The entire 500,000-square-foot inpatient building at Saint John’s sits on seismic isolators, which consist of large rubber bearings reinforced with steel, with a lead core for dampening. The bearings are 24 inches high and 48 inches in diameter and weigh 2.5 tons each. They form the foundation of the system.
The isolators dampen and deflect much of the ground movement caused by temblors. With the isolators, the inpatient building, which is scheduled to open this summer, can absorb a displacement of up to 27 inches during a quake. As a result, the building can withstand force levels of up to 2 Gs (gravitational force) — which is twice the force of the Northridge Earthquake, estimated at.9 Gs of ground acceleration.
Saint John’s is one of only three hospitals in Southern California to feature a base isolation system and the only one on the westside.
Saint John’s also has built a number of back-up systems to help maintain full operations during a natural disaster. There are dual electrical feeds from separate substations, dual fuel for boilers, dual water supplies from separate water mains and enough on-site water and fuel storage to keep the hospital operating under normal capacity for up to five days. Emergency generators also will allow the hospital to operate under 80 percent normal power in the event of a major black-out or power shortage.
Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center also is rebuilding its facilities, a $275 million overhaul. It has recently completed a central plant on Arizona Avenue to power both the existing and replacement hospitals. It has more reliable equipment than the old one, which was between 35 and 40 years old. The new plant meets federal seismic standards, is more energy efficient and produces less emissions.
“It’s the best of both worlds,” said hospital spokesman Ted Braun. “It’s safer and reliable.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 17, 2004. Read the original PDF.