SM-UCLA Medical Center takes wraps off its new ER
MID-CITY At a time when many hospitals across the country are being forced to close their emergency rooms due to a lack of funds, the Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center and Orthopaedic Hospital will celebrate the opening of a new, state-of-the-art ER this weekend.
The J.B. Nethercutt Emergency Center, which officially opens on July 25, is equipped with the latest technology and patient management system, all of which is geared towards allowing physicians and nurses to be more efficient while, at the same time, providing patients with more privacy.
The ER will include digital X-ray technology, decontamination showers, isolation rooms and an automated medication dispensing system.
“This is truly the ER of the future, and it will set a new standard for emergency medicine in West Los Angeles,” said Dr. Wally Ghurabi, medical director for both the Nethercutt center and the Santa Monica Fire Department.
“Christmas came early this year,” said Ghurabi, who has been waiting for a new emergency room since 1980 — the year he began working at the medical center. “It’s unbelievable. When we open, it will be exactly 27 years to the day when I first started.”
A community open house celebration will be held this Sunday, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the ER on the 1200 block of 15th Street, between Wilshire Boulevard and Arizona Avenue. The 16,000-square-foot ER will open simultaneously with a new laboratory — located in the new building’s basement — that features the latest chemistry, hematology and blood-bank analyzers. The two facilities will be linked by a pneumatic tube system that is expected to result in faster turnaround times for lab results and, ultimately, better service.
Officials are hoping that, with the new technology, they can process patients faster and bolster their ability to handle more patients. The larger emergency room will also give doctors and nurses more room to operate, as well as provide patients with an extra level of comfort resulting from bigger rooms that offer more privacy.
“The Nethercutt family has a strong connection to Santa Monica Hospital.” — CHRISTMAS CAME EARLY THIS YEAR.” Dr. Wally Ghurabi director of the Nethercutt Emergency Center
The ER also contains a child-friendly pediatrics room and an examination room with a private bathroom for female patients.
The emergency center, which cost roughly $7 million, is named after the Nethercutt family, one of the hospital’s biggest supporters. Its namesake — J.B. Nethercutt, who co-founded Merle Norman Cosmetics in 1931 along with his aunt in their Santa Monica home — was a graduate of Santa Monica High School who used his money from the cosmetics industry to support the medical center.
The benefactors proved instrumental to the opening of both a new emergency center in 1969, and a new hospital building — the Merle Norman Pavilion — in 1986. Nethercutt died in 2004.
“My father was very active, in his lifetime, in supporting Santa Monica Hospital, and my wife Helen and I are honored to continue his work,” said Jack Nethercutt. “I was born in Santa Monica Hospital 70 years ago and my younger brother was also.
The new ER is part of a major rebuilding project that includes the construction of a replacement hospital, complete with 271 beds and 315,000 square feet of new space that will connect with the existing Merle Norman Pavilion, which is undergoing a renovation as part of the project.
Officials at the hospital said it suffered significant damage during the Northridge Earthquake, and the ultimate decision was made in late 1994 to build a replacement hospital rather than retrofitting it to meet current codes.
“This is an exciting introduction to our new medical campus coming online in the next three years,” said Posie Carpenter, chief administrative officer of the Santa Monica- UCLA Medical Center. “Now, we have a top-of-the-line facility equipped with cutting-edge technology to match the expertise of our outstanding emergency care team.”
Officials expect the new hospital, including the orthopedic, north and central wings, to be completed in 2010. The entire project is expected to be completed in 2011, following the demolition of the existing, nine-story Tower Building on 15th Street, which will become a landscaped entrance to the facility.
Once the new emergency room is up and running, the old one on 16th Street will be demolished as part of the rebuilding project. The new ER will contain 21 beds, as opposed to the current facility’s 18.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 13, 2007. Read the original PDF.