After less than two months of assembly, the steel skeleton of California Hospital Medical Center's $215-million expansion is already complete in Downtown Los Angeles.  

Dignity Health, which owns the campus 1401 S. Grand Avenue, broke ground in early 2019 on an a four-story, 150,000-square-foot patient tower that will house the hospital's emergency, trauma, and maternity apartments.  The project also includes a 749-car parking garage lined with street-fronting retail.  

Completion of the expansion, which is designed by The Devenney Group, is anticipated in 2021.  

California Hospital Medical Center is billed as the busiest private trauma center in Los Angeles, serving over 81,000 patients annually.  The explosive growth of Downtown Los Angeles - in particular the surrounding South Park neighborhood - has led Dignity Health to build more space than is currently required at this point in time.  The top floor of the under-construction building will only be shall space in order to accommodate future services.

Dignity Health joins a number of other health systems that are investing in new buildings at their Los Angeles area properties in advance of a State-mandated deadline to either replace or seismically retrofit aging facilities before the year 2030.  Kaiser PermanenteProvidence Health & Services, and CHA Health Systems are either planning or currently building new patient towers at their area hospitals.