Children’s Hospital of Orange County has completed its $300 million Southwest Tower, one of the larger healthcare projects in the region.
The 330,000-square-foot outpatient and research tower houses more than 25 specialty clinics, an advanced imaging center and a research floor for clinical trials within nine floors.
Its opening in June marks the second phase of CHOC’s three-phase, $1.3 billion master plan.
The purpose of the master plan was to ensure CHOC would have enough hospital space to serve the region “well into the future,” according to Kim Milstien, regional president of Rady Children’s Health, the newly-formed parent company of CHOC after it merged with Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego at the beginning of the year.
Milstien reports to Kimberly Chavalas Cripe and Patrick Frias, co-CEOs of Rady Children’s Health.
“Through much of our 60 years of history, we’ve always been seeking to serve the community better, especially the kids and the families,” Milstien told the Business Journal.
Once fully operational, the tower is expected to serve more than 168,000 outpatient visits in its first year and grow that to over 180,000 by 2030, according to CHOC.
CHOC is the fourth largest hospital in Orange County with $1.1 billion in net patient revenue for the 12 months ended Sept. 30, 2024.
CHOC is one of several hospitals taking part in the local building boom, with current healthcare projects totaling in more than $4 billion.
Among them is UCI Health’s seven-story, 350,000-square-foot hospital, scheduled to open later this year.
It’s the third and final phase of UCI Health’s upcoming $1.3 billion medical complex along Jamboree Road and Campus in Irvine.
Also underway are Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian’s $1.2 billion expansion of its Irvine campus and what will soon be OC’s only hospital exclusively focused on treating and curing cancer that’s being built by City of Hope Orange County, which is investing $1.5 billion to bring cancer care closer to OC.
Year of Activation
“CHOC has been in pretty big growth mode over the last decade,” Milstien said.
She called this year the “year of activation” for CHOC with many projects that have been under development coming to fruition.
In addition to the Southwest Tower, CHOC also opened a 24-bed cardiovascular intensive care unit and 28-bed neuroscience unit within its Bill Holmes Tower.
“We had several areas of shelled spaces in this tower, most of which are now opened up,” Milstien said.
The cardiovascular intensive care unit, located on the sixth floor, is said to be the only dedicated pediatric cardiovascular unit in OC. It offers extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), a form of life support for patients whose heart and lungs aren’t functioning properly.
A floor above, the neuroscience unit has wearable epilepsy monitoring technology that’s not tied to a machine, allowing kids to move freely. There’s also a teaching kitchen in the neuroscience unit where a clinical nutritionist will educate kids and their families about different diets that can help improve their conditions.
“We have the opportunity for these kids who are on monitoring for hours and sometimes days to be able to go through the unit, use the amazing playroom that’s there and not just be tethered to a bed for that period of time,” Milstien said.
The third thing CHOC opened this year are two interventional radiology suites equipped with advanced imaging tools such as MRI, fluoroscopy and ultrasound.
The first phase of CHOC’s $1.3 billion master plan was the 425,000-square-foot, nine-floor Bill Homes Tower, which opened in 2013 and was named after retired businessman Bill Holmes who donated $27 million to CHOC.
The opening of the Bill Homes Tower made CHOC a completely freestanding children’s hospital, according to Milstien. It’s the largest project in CHOC history and tripled the size of the hospital after it was built.
Dedicated Research Institute
Upon entering the new Southwest Tower, patients are greeted by the pediatric imaging center on the ground floor.
The zoo-themed center has interactive toys to familiarize kids with MRIs and CT scans.
CHOC serves patients with high levels of acuity with many having multiple medical needs, Milstien said.
The Southwest Tower’s main purpose is to bring various specialty clinics under one centralized place and have them work together.
“As an outpatient it’s harder to get into the main hospital,” Milstien said. “This is just dedicated to outpatients and really serving their needs because most of the kids who are seen in specialty clinics have some of kind of imaging requirements where the doctors want to watch their progress, so it’s really dedicated to that outpatient experience and quicker turnaround times.”
One of the tower’s main highlights is the ninth floor, which is solely for research and innovation.
There are 134 research benches for clinical scientists to study different areas of health from neuroscience to the heart.
“Our goal with research is to answer the meaningful questions for kids, one at a time, and then using that to perpetuate the evolution of medicine based upon the discoveries that we have here,” Milstien said.
CHOC is also opening a human performance lab in the research institute to help children with movement disorders.
Milstien said that many of their oncology and orthopedic patients have prosthetics, so the performance lab will look at things like their gait and how the prosthetic interacts with their limbs to give them personalized treatment.
Similar to the Bill Holmes Tower, CHOC is leaving the third and eighth floors open for future development.
Corporate Donors, Partnerships
As a nonprofit hospital, philanthropy is vital for CHOC, Milstien said.
Philanthropy supported both the construction and creation of programs within the tower.
Major donors include SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union, the Cheng Family Foundation, Sherry and John Phelan, and the Clemons Family Foundation.
“I think that really is emblematic of the love that people in Orange County have for CHOC and the services we provide children,” Milstien said.
Tustin-based SchoolsFirst, Orange County’s largest credit union, by assets, gave a $3 million gift to CHOC for the tower. The first floor has been named the SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union Lobby in recognition of the gift.
“We are deeply committed to supporting CHOC and its mission to deliver world-class pediatric care,” SchoolsFirst CEO Bill Cheney said in a statement.
CHOC has received longtime support from local businesses such as Hyundai Motor Group, which has its American headquarters in Fountain Valley.
In 2011, the automaker’s nonprofit organization committed to donating $10 million to fund oncology research at CHOC, establishing the Hyundai Cancer Institute at the hospital. This year, it announced another $200,000 commitment to be used for CHOC’s greatest needs.
Beyond donations, corporate partnerships also helped shape the tower.
CHOC partnered with El Segundo-based Mattel Inc. to infuse the toy retailer’s branding throughout the whole tower.
On floors four through nine near the elevator are display cases containing well-known Mattel toys, such as Polly Pocket and Barbie. Milstien said that the hospital’s beloved mascot, Choco the bear, is hidden in each of these installations.
“One of the fun things for kids, and I did it myself, is to go floor by floor to find Choco in these wonderful Mattel vignettes,” Milstien said.
The partnership highlights the hospital’s belief that kids should continue to be kids no matter what their health treatment journey is, she said.
