PALO ALTO, Calif-- Stanford Hospital & Clinics (SHC) and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital (LPCH) today announced preliminary plans to rebuild and modernize its hospitals and medical facilities.  Plans will also involve some School of Medicine laboratories in Palo Alto.  Generally, the plans are designed to meet new hospital seismic safety laws, increase emergency room services and provide for future community healthcare needs. 
 
State-mandated seismic safety laws, a critical shortage of patient beds, increased patient needs, undersized hospitals and emergency room services, plus the need to adapt to changing technology and new advances in medical care necessitate Stanford’s need to rebuild.
 
Both SHC and LPCH participated in a study session with the Palo Alto City Council tonight as the first step in a process to rebuild their hospitals and healthcare facilities.  Stanford University plans to file an application early next year, which will begin a formal public process for approval.  The application will require an Environmental Impact Report (EIR), which will address issues such as density, height and transportation.
 
Appearing before the Council to present the rebuild plans were Martha Marsh, CEO of Stanford Hospital & Clinics, Christopher Dawes, CEO of Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital and Philip Pizzo, M.D., Dean of the Stanford University School of Medicine.
 
“Our ability to offer quality patient healthcare, increase patient privacy and improve emergency room services is dependent on seismically safe, modern facilities,” said Martha Marsh, CEO, Stanford Hospital & Clinics.  “We are seeking City and community input as part of a planning process to design and build such facilities to continue to serve the healthcare needs of Palo Alto and the community.”
 
California state law requires all acute-care hospitals to meet strict seismic safety standards.  Stanford Hospital & Clinics must rebuild and update their medical facilities to meet deadlines in this law beginning in 2013 or risk loss of its license to operate.
 
Originally built in 1959, SHC’s main facilities are dated and cannot be brought up to new seismic standards.  A preliminary needs assessment calls for removing approximately 700,000 square feet of the old facilities and building 1.4 million square feet of new facilities, for a net addition of about 730,000 sq ft to the hospital.  The new facilities will house 600 patient beds; a new Emergency Room; new surgical, diagnostic and treatment rooms; nursing and support offices; and clinics and administrative offices. The current hospital will remain open until the new facility, adjacent to the existing building, is completed.
 
Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital is seeking to address severe capacity issues in its expansion plans.  The hospital’s preliminary needs assessment calls for building 425,000 sq ft of new facilities at the current site. This will add 104 patient beds to further accommodate family-centered care, private labor and delivery rooms, and house new surgical, diagnostic and treatment rooms. 
 
“Last year alone, our hospital was forced to turn away more than 200 critically ill children and refer them to other healthcare facilities due to our lack of patient beds,” said Christopher Dawes, CEO, Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital.  “Our mission is to serve children and families, but our facilities are limiting our ability to fulfill this mission. We simply cannot continue to turn away children who need our care.”
 
The children’s hospital plays an increasingly important role in the health of the community. Last year LPCH served more than 82 percent of Palo Alto pediatric patients requiring hospitalization. The hospital also delivered more than 5,000 babies.
 
The Stanford University School of Medicine, part of the Stanford University Medical Campus, is also proposing a one-for-one replacement of 415,000 sq ft of existing outdated laboratory facilities with new, modern facilities, according to Philip Pizzo, M.D., Dean of Stanford University School of Medicine.
 
These are the hospitals’ first steps in accommodating the next generation of medical technologies and improving patient care by meeting the needs of the 21st century medicine.  The new medical facilities will focus on complying with new medical innovations, increasing privacy for patients and focusing on family-centered care, along with modernizing the hospitals’ buildings to ensure a seismically-sound medical center.
 
About Lucile Packard Children's Hospital
Ranked annually as one of the best pediatric hospitals in the nation by U.S.News & World Report, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford is a 264-bed hospital devoted to the care of children and expectant mothers. Providing pediatric and obstetric medical and surgical services and associated with the Stanford University School of Medicine, Packard Children's offers patients locally, regionally and nationally the full range of health care programs and services — from preventive and routine care to the diagnosis and treatment of serious illness and injury. For more information, visit www.lpch.org.