Over the weekend, hospital staff began moving the first patients from two California Pacific Medical Center campuses into the brand-new Van Ness location.
With 274 beds, 11 floors, and a $2.1 billion budget, the new campus is the first hospital in the nation to be especially designed to withstand any seismic activity, a necessity in earthquake-prone San Francisco.
Warren Brown, the CEO of CPMC, tells CBS SF, "One of the most important features is that it will withstand a major earthquake and be able to function on its own for several days afterwards."
Two hundred patients who were shuttled from CPMC's Pacific and California facilities moved into the new space over the weekend.
Other features include two emergency rooms to handle adult and child care, thirteen operating rooms, and a center for handling intensive infant care and major labor and deliveries, according to the CPMC website.
Ryan Bray, who has been battling leukemia since May 2018, was the first patient to move in on Saturday. He tells KTVU that the first thing he noticed was the bathroom; "I’m 6’5.” The showers are really small at the other [facility]. It sounds funny, but the bathroom here is quite nice." Since he's a long-term patient, Bray says, "They’re just a second family to me, I’m glad we’ll all be able to experience this together."
