UCI Health sees year of expansion, innovation

UCI Health sees year of expansion, innovation

Academic health system transformed into one of the state's largest in 2024

Orange, Calif. - In 2024, UCI Health embarked on a historic expansion of access to world-class, academic medicine that transformed the health system into one of the largest in the state, capable of serving more community members than ever before.

In March, Orange County's only academic health system announced the successful acquisition of four hospitals and associated outpatient locations from Tenet Healthcare Corporation. The purchase led to the creation of the UCI Health Community Network and the hospitals were renamed UCI Health ― Fountain Valley, UCI Health ― Lakewood, UCI Health ― Los Alamitos and UCI Health ― Placentia Linda.

The acquisition added 858 beds, bringing the health system's total to 1,317.

"We are investing in building a healthier future for people that harnesses the power of advanced medicine with the convenience of care available close to home," UCI Health President and CEO Chad T. Lefteris said at a celebration at the time.

This summer also marked the opening of the first two buildings at UCI Health ― Irvine, the $1.3 billion medical complex under construction at the corner of Jamboree Road and Birth Streets. In April, the Joe C. Wen & Family Center for Advanced Care opened and saw 500 patients on its first day.

The center is a 168,000-square-foot state-of-the-art facility featuring 120 exam rooms and offers a full range of pediatric and adult specialty services.

In July, the cancer center opened its second clinical hub, the UCI Health Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center and Ambulatory Care building, which saw more than 160 patients on day one. The five-story, 225,000-square-foot building is designed to provide everything a patient needs in an environmentally friendly building close to home. A "one-stop shop" for cancer care and outpatient surgery services, it gives patients immediate access to a multidisciplinary team of experts in their specific disease, as well as all diagnostic and support services, ideally coordinated in a single visit.

A seven-story acute care hospital will open at the complex in 2025.

UCI Health also broke ground on the UCI Health Rehabilitation Hospital in Irvine in February. The 68,000-square-foot, two-story facility will function as a stand-alone hospital with 52 beds. It will feature a specialized acquired brain injury unit, a dialysis suite, an imaging suite for onsite radiology, multidisciplinary therapy gymnasiums outfitted with the latest therapeutic technologies, outdoor courtyards and other spaces designed to help patients return to activities of daily living. The hospital is expected to open in 2025.

At the flagship UCI Medical Center in Orange, a state-of-the-art Outpatient Imaging Center opened its doors in August. The new 19,000-square-foot, two-story facility is equipped with the latest imaging technologies on the first floor while the second floor houses a dedicated breast health clinic, providing specialized services such as mammography, breast ultrasound and bone density screening.

Innovation in cancer treatment, diagnosis

In July, UCI Health became the first health system in Southern California to offer advanced photon-counting computed tomography scanning, which features higher resolution scanning at a fraction of the time necessary for traditional CT imaging.

In September, the UCI Health Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center became the first National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center in California to offer histotripsy, a novel noninvasive ultrasound technology that uses highly focused sound waves to precisely destroy liver tumors in a single outpatient procedure.

Quality, compassion recognition

UCI Medical Center has been repeatedly recognized by national organizations for consistently delivering high-quality care, and 2024 was no exception.

Vizient Inc. recognized the medical center as a top performer for high-quality inpatient and ambulatory care in its prestigious annual Quality and Accountability Study, one of just five facilities in the nation to be recognized. The medical center is also one of 115 facilities to be recognized as a top performer for inpatient care in the 2024 Bernard A. Birnbaum, MD, Quality Leadership Study.

Other recognitions the medical center received this year include:

• Being upgraded to a four-star patient experience rating by Medicare, reflecting the health system's steadfast commitment to delivering exceptional healthcare and outstanding patient interactions.
• The Joint Commission Gold Seal of Approval for its Advanced Heart Failure Program for demonstrating continuous compliance with performance standards after a rigorous, unannounced on-site review.
• Re-designation as a Baby-Friendly Hospital by Baby-Friendly USA for adhering to the highest standards of care for breastfeeding mothers and their babies.
• The medical intensive care unit received the gold-level Beacon Award for Excellence from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, one of just three units in California to hold the designation.
• The medical recent received a commendable 95 out of 100 score in the 2024 Human Rights Campaign Healthcare Equality Index for programs that demonstrate its commitment to LGBTQ+ inclusivity and equality.

UCI Medical Center and UCI Health Community Network locations UCI Health ― Fountain Valley, UCI Health ― Los Alamitos and UCI Health ― Lakewood earned the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association's Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award and the Association's Stroke and Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll Awards.

Advancing sustainability

This spring, a state-of-the-art, all-electric central utilities plant (CUP), the nation's first, was unveiled at UCI Health ― Irvine. The 800,000-square-foot facility will deliver clean energy to the entire campus, setting a precedent in an industry known for massive power demands and large carbon dioxide emissions.

At UCI Medical Center, more than 75% of the gas-powered landscaping equipment has been replaced with battery powered equipment. There are also 35 bikes and nine electric carts in operation. This switch reduces carbon emissions and eliminates exposing patients, visitors and co-workers to emissions, noise and dangerous chemicals.

It's for efforts like these that UCI Health was recognized in the 2024 Practice Greenhealth Environmental Excellence Awards, receiving:

• Greenhealth Emerald Award, a competitive honor that recognizes the top 20% of applicants.
• Two Circle of Excellence Awards in climate and energy, which honor up to 10 of the highest performing hospitals nationwide.
• Greening the OR Recognition Award, honoring organizations that have made substantial progress in reducing the environmental impact of surgery.

About UCI Health

UCI Health, one of California's largest academic health systems, is the clinical enterprise of the University of California, Irvine. The 1,317-bed system comprises its main campus UCI Medical Center, a 459-bed, acute care hospital in Orange, Calif., the UCI Health - Irvine medical campus, four hospitals and affiliated physicians of the UCI Health Community Network in Orange and Los Angeles counties and ambulatory care centers across the region. Recognized as a Top Hospital by The Leapfrog Group, UCI Medical Center provides tertiary and quaternary care and is home to Orange County's only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center, high-risk perinatal/neonatal program and American College of Surgeons-verified Level I adult and Level II pediatric trauma center, gold level 1 geriatric emergency department and regional burn center. UCI Health serves a region of nearly 4 million people in Orange County, western Riverside County and southeast Los Angeles County. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.