Marian Regional Medical Center Approved to Open - KCOY Santa Maria, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo - News

Marian Regional Medical Center Approved to Open

SANTA MARIA, CA – (May 17, 2012) – Marian Regional Medical Center (MRMC), a Dignity Health member which also includes Arroyo Grande Community Hospital and French Hospital Medical Center, is pleased to announce that the medical center has received final state approval and the new hospital will officially open on Tuesday, May 22, 2012.

The new, state-of-the-art, $218 million MRMC is 235,000-square-feet (doubling the size of the existing hospital) and features 191 beds. The building includes the latest in lifesaving technology, private patient rooms, a 21-bed Newborn ICU, expanded Emergency Department and Critical Care Unit, advanced cardiac care, comprehensive oncology care and superior imaging services. The highly anticipated opening of the new hospital has been years in the making and May 22 will be an historic day for not only Santa Maria, but the entire Central Coast as the new Marian Regional Medical Center becomes a reality for patients and the community," remarks Charles J. Cova, President and CEO, Marian Regional Medical Center and Dignity Health Central Coast Service Area. "We are truly grateful for the support from the community. The generosity and commitment Marian Regional Medical Center received, made it possible for Marian to build our new hospital for our community."

The existing Emergency Department will remain open throughout the night on May 21 and the early morning hours on May 22. Starting at 6 a.m. on May 22, community members requiring emergency treatment will be directed to the new hospital's Emergency Department and the new hospital will begin admitting patients at 8 a.m.

The initial anticipated opening date for MRMC's new hospital was March 27, 2012. However, the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development's (OSHPD) review process work took longer than originally predicted to perform final building inspections. In early May, MRMC received OSHPD occupancy approval to move into the building. This week MRMC received licensing approval from the California Department of Public Health.

"On May 22, Marian Regional Medical Center will become the newest hospital on the Central Coast, but health care is about more than just a new building. It is a promise to provide our patients and community with exceptional medical care, today, tomorrow and every day," adds Cova.

For more information about MRMC's New Hospital Opening Day, please contact MRMC Media Relations at (805) 739-3594.

On May 22, MRMC will begin accepting patients to the new hospital and all patients admitted to the existing facility will be moved to the new hospital to their new private patient room. For more than two years, MRMC's Patient Move Team has been working to systematically prepare, organize and execute the new hospital patient move process. Just as patients were moved from Our Lady of Perpetual Help Hospital, Marian's predecessor, to Marian Hospital in 1967, the goal of the Patient Move Team will be to move patients into the new hospital, all without missing a meal. A nurse will be with each and every patient before, during and after the move along with other dedicated team members.