New Stanford Hospital prepares to open

PALO ALTO, Calif. (KGO) -- If the volunteer patient on the gurney were a real trauma case, she would begin receiving treatment in a brand new, cutting edge emergency department.

The drill she's participating in is part of final preparations for the opening of the new Stanford Hospital.

Besides the emergency department, the $2 billion-plus center features 28 state-of-the-art operating rooms and image-guided, interventional radiology suites, which allow rotating teams of doctors to treat a single patient without having to move them.

"Surgeons, interventional radiologists can work together to take care of really complex cases, really complex patients," says Dr. Ruth Fanning, M.D.

The new Stanford Hospital has been nearly a decade in the making and sits alongside the existing hospital and clinics.

Helen Wilmot is Vice President of Facility Services and Planning. She says the hospital and emergency department are built to latest seismic standards and powered by multiple generators that will keep them up and running should a major disaster strike the Bay Area.

"I hate to think of it, I have been a long-time Peninsula resident, but at some point, if the big earthquake hits us, we are very well prepared," notes Wilmot.

The hospital adds more than 350 new patient beds and more than doubles the size of the emergency department. But planners say personal touches will also help families participate in a patient's care.

"In the intensive care unit, what's really different for us it that we're providing a place for families to stay, and they can be with their family member, their sick family member 24 hours a day essentially," explains Dr. Ann Weinacker, M.D.

The new hospital is targeted for opening in late October.

From the massive atrium to the views sweeping across the Peninsula, the new hospital is designed to be the focal point of an already world-renowned treatment center.