Taking Medical Care to Next Level: Grand Tower Opens in South Park

            Expanded next-generation health care and medical services arrived in South Park with the opening of the Grand Tower at Dignity Health California Medical Center in early January. The hospital and medical center have been providing acute care services to downtown LA and surrounding areas for 135 years.

            The Grand Tower features an expansive Emergency Department and Family Birth Center. Alina Moran, Hospital President and CEO, shared the need for expansion to meet the changing healthcare needs of the community.

            Moran said the new emergency and trauma areas include a 50% increase in ER beds with all patient rooms being private rooms. Dignity Health annually treats 80,000 patients including 3,000 trauma cases; it provides the only full-service emergency/trauma services in downtown LA. Other features include six trauma bays for seriously injured patients, 47 exam rooms, pediatric rooms for young children, dedicated waiting areas for families, and Convenient Emergency Room online scheduling and real-time updates from your mobile phone.

            The new birth center will see 2,400 deliveries and 500 newborn admissions to the NICU annually. The new center was built to foster a family-centered approach to care with support for the entire family – comfort and technology combined. Other features include 28 private postpartum rooms, 24 private NICU rooms for families, three surgery suites with state-of-the-art equipment and technology, pregnancy care center with private triage, antepartum, birthing rooms, children’s play area for families in the waiting room, and a specially designed water birthing suite – one of only a few in Los Angeles County.

Learn more about California Hospital’s birth center and neonatal care unit. Here is a link to a video overview of the tower: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eioSKjK2qZc&t=1s.

        SPNA (South Park Neighborhood Association) toured the Grand Tower on one of their Neighborhood Walks during the January Fresh Start month of health. We will schedule another neighborhood walk and tour soon. All South Park residents need to see this jewel of healthcare in our neighborhood.

By Debra Shrout