It’s being called the most advanced heart care center on the West Coast.
The seven-story Prebys Cardiovascular Institute sits on the campus of Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla and will be unveiled on Thursday.
It has six operating rooms, 59 intensive care beds and 108 private patient rooms. Construction took three years.
Scripps CEO Chris Van Gorder said the $456 million center has incorporated design features to enhance healing.
“In all the patient rooms, there are floor-to-ceiling windows, so they’re extraordinarily light," Van Gorder said. "And that’s been shown to aid in healing, and aid in almost the psychological condition of the patient and their family members.”
More than a quarter of the funding for the new institute came from private donors. The center is named after philanthropist Conrad Prebys, who gave Scripps a $45 million gift.
"Everybody who is involved with this — you're going to change lives, you're going to save lives," Mayor Kevin Faulconer said on Thursday. "San Diegans are going to benefit for this cardiovascular institute for, literally, generations to come."
Van Gorder said Scripps' next major construction project will be replacing Scripps Memorial Hospital in Hillcrest. California law requires all hospitals to be earthquake proof by 2030.
