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SGMH Modernizes and Expands By Mark Turner, Vice President of Beaumont Chamber; Chief Executive Officer of San Gorgonio Memorial Hospital. (951) 769-2102 After much anticipation our local community hospital, San Gorgonio Memorial Hospital, opened its new Emergency Department and Intensive Care Unit building to patient care on May 14th. The new ED/ICU more than doubles the hospital's former capacity and features large, modern, and private patient rooms. The new state-of-the-art facility incorporates the latest in healthcare technology, like bedside charting, and meets the State of California's strict seismic laws. Its design and size should meet the community's emergent and critical healthcare needs for decades to come. The new facility is a major milestone in San Gorgonio Memorial Hospital's patient care delivery. It was funded with a $108 million general obligation bond, passed by voters in 2006. The next phase in modernizing the hospital, originally built in 1951, is construction of a 6-story, 120-bed Patient Care Building, which will include a new main lobby and gift shop, diagnostic imaging center, four-room surgical services floor, and pharmacy. The Patient Care Building, scheduled to be completed by late 2017, will be the last major building constructed on campus for the foreseeable future. As with most hospitals in the state, the need to comply with the state's strict seismic laws motivated hospital leaders to replace and expand its patient care buildings. Its increased scope and size, however, resulted from current and expected population growth. The hospital, currently licensed for 87 beds, will grow to 151 licensed beds once the 6-story Patient Care Building is open. Hospital leaders foresaw the need to expand because of population growth, and they saw the need to provide high quality healthcare services. A modern hospital facility, along with well-trained doctors and nurses, is vital to a growing community. It will encourage more residents to stay local for healthcare and, in turn, stay local for other consumer needs. It also should serve as an attractive community asset for businesses considering locating here. I trust you will agree that the significant investment made in our local community hospital will benefit businesses and consumers alike for many years to come. BEAUMONT NOW | JULY 2013 3

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