Exterior view of the 10-story Jacobs Medical Center at UC San Diego Health
The University of California (UC) San Diego Health is celebrating 50 years of patient care in a special way with the recent opening of Jacobs Medical Center, a 245-bed medical and surgical specialty hospital in nearby LaJolla, Calif., that offers advanced care.
Designed by CannonDesign and built by Kitchell Contractors Inc., the $943 million, 509,500-square-foot facility integrates advanced imaging and surgical technologies in a comforting environment meant to speed healing, according to UC San Diego Health.
“This year celebrates our 50th anniversary of patient care,” says Patty Maysent, CEO of UC San Diego Health. “Jacobs Medical Center is a symbol of our continued commitment to provide the highest quality of care to our patients and their loved ones. Patients will have access to world-class care here in San Diego.”
Patient rooms feature natural light, art and unique technology that allows patients to access medical records, read about care providers, and control light, climate and entertainment options.
The majority of rooms at Jacobs Medical Center feature floor-to-ceiling windows with panoramic views of San Diego, the mountains and ocean. Patients can use a mobile device to control the room’s environment, such as lighting and temperature, as well as entertainment on TV.
The same devices also allow patients to see photos and biographies of their clinical care team, view their schedule of upcoming medical tests and access a bedside medical chart.
Art is incorporated throughout the facility. The Jacobs Healing Arts Collection is exhibited throughout the hospital, from hallways to patient rooms. The collection includes more than 150 individual pieces, including paintings, sculptures and digital photographs.
Patients at Jacobs Medical Center will enjoy made-to-order, healthy seasonal cooking. Through a personal room service attendant, they will be able to order from a restaurant-style menu that can be adapted to each person’s specific dietary needs and taste preferences.
Operating rooms at Jacobs Medical Center are fitted with advanced computer-guided imaging systems, lasers and robotics to enable complex surgical procedures.
As the region’s only academic health system, patients will have access to leading experts, surgeries and treatment trials only available from UC San Diego Health.
There are three specialty centers within Jacobs Medical Center: the Rady Pavilion for Women and Infants, the Pauline and Stanley Foster Hospital for Cancer Care and the A. Vassiliadis Family Pavilion for Advanced Surgery. The pavilions will offer care ranging from the delivery of single or multiple babies to the most complex malignancies and chronic diseases.
Maysent says patients at Jacobs Medical Center will have access to emerging stem cell and immunotherapy trials through Moores Cancer Center, the region’s only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center. They also will have access to nearly 100 cancer subspecialists, plus dedicated support teams, such as respiratory therapists and pain management experts.
With views of nearby La Jolla from the top floor, mothers delivering at Jacobs Medical Center will have access to a neonatal intensive care unit, a birth center and a labor and delivery unit, all within one hospital.
The Serenity Room provides a quiet, calming space for patients and families to have a moment of reflection, meditation or prayer.
On the sixth floor, Jacobs Medical Center will be the first hospital in California to offer an open floor with full-unit air filtration for bone and stem cell transplantation patients. The design allows patients freedom of movement, exercise and socialization, rather than confinement to a single room.
On the second floor, surgery suites include intraoperative CT or MRI imaging capabilities. These technologies will enable surgeons to perform immediate scans during surgery to verify complete tumor removal and the precise repair of neurologic, urologic, orthopedic and other conditions.
Surgeons at Jacobs Medical Center will perform procedures not offered anywhere else in the region. For example, UC San Diego Health is the only hospital conducting laser ablation of brain tumors, living donor liver transplant and other complex surgeries for cancer care.
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