Los Robles Hospital expansion almost complete

READY TO SERVE- Los Robles Hospital and Medical Center in Thousand Oaks will provide 90 private patient rooms in a new wing set to open next month. The facility will offer state-of-the-art technology and comfort to patients, their families and medical staff. CEO Jim Sherman describes the newly expanded and updated Los Robles Hospital and Medical Center as the hospital the community has long deserved.

The hospital nearly doubled its size by adding a 200,000square-foot patient wing that includes lots of perks for patients and staff.

The date of the new wing's opening was moved up a month- to Aug. 12- to coincide with the expected 10-day closure of St. John's Regional Medical Center in Oxnard. St. John's will be clearing up a mold situation at that time, officials said, and the added accommodations at Los Robles will be especially helpful.

Those seeking medical treatment in mid-August will find 90 new private patient rooms at Los Robles and 10 private registration rooms, where patients can feel comfortable giving personal information when they first arrive at the hospital. There are also elevators designated for patients and staff only, separate from those for public use.

No longer will visitors have to squeeze in an elevator while trying not to invade the privacy of a patient prone on a gurney, clad only in a hospital gown, with tubes protruding from his body.

The halls in the new wing appear wider now because space there is no longer taken up by empty gurneys and other hospital devices. The new wing offers large storage areas for such items, Sherman said.

The wood-paneled hallways are covered with brightly colored artwork. Flowers and landscape scenes are everywhere.

Arches in the hallways add style and space overhead. The threestory lobby features windows that

look out to a rose garden and mature trees that until recently were in crates in the parking area, waiting to be replanted. The concept for the $120 million project was approved seven years ago. Groundbreaking took place July 28, 2004, and construction began in November of that year.

"We're giving the community the hospital they've deserved for a long time to go along with the great outpatient and inpatient care they've been getting," Sherman said.

The hospital will continue to provide valet service when the new wing opens, so those coming can pull into the turnaround, leave their cars with the attendants and walk into the lobby as if it were a hotel, he said.

Those coming in for surgery will have one-stop shopping. Right past the private registration rooms patients can check in for preoperative procedures, including blood work, Xrays and electrocardiograms. No more being wheeled all over the hospital to get those tests, Sherman said.

On each floor caseworkers, who monitor the care of certain patients, will now have offices near the nursing stations to more efficiently assist those patients, Sherman said.

Patients in the private rooms will each wear a wristband with a barcode that identifies various needs, including prescription dispensing. Each room will have a locked cupboard where their personal prescriptions are automatically dispensed to the nurse according to barcodes on the wristbands and on the medication.

And instead of a binder of paper records hooked to the end of the bed the old-fashioned way, a computer in each room will let the doctors and nurses input information right there beside the patient's bed.

Also near the bed will be a reclining chair for a loved one who wants to spend the night next to the patient, Sherman said.

"The whole hospital will have wireless Internet access," he said.

Visitor waiting areas are broken into two sections: One is for those who want to wait quietly, and the other has a TV for those who need a distraction, Sherman said.

Staff lounges have windows, refrigerators and microwaves. Courtyards are equipped with tables and chairs for lunches and snacks. And there are benches for those who'd like solitude outside of the hospital setting.

As soon as patients and medical service areas are moved into the new wing, renovation of the rest of the hospital will begin. The goal is to match the older side of the hospital with the new area and make the two appear seamless to the public, Sherman said.