The new UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica officially opened its doors Jan. 8 as 125 adult and pediatric patients were transported into new hospital buildings on the Santa Monica campus, as well as the existing Merle Norman Pavilion.

Teams of doctors, nurses and moving specialists helped to safely and efficiently relocate patients. The move followed months of extensive planning to prepare the hospital for licensing and occupancy.

Part of a system-wide rebuilding project, the new Santa Monica campus features the UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica; a branch of Mattel Children’s Hospital UCLA, the Los Angeles Orthopaedic Hospital and the UCLA Rape Treatment Center.

“Every patient who comes to us deserves the best, and every one of them, when they leave us, should be an ambassador to tell others about the great care and service they received at UCLA,” said Dr. David Feinberg, president of UCLA Health System. “This wonderful new facility not only accommodates scientific and technical excellence, but also creates an environment that is healing.”

Dr. James Atkinson, who oversaw the rebuilding project and serves as medical director at the Santa Monica campus, said it will provide the full continuum of services, from neonatal intensive care to geriatric medicine. It also will serve as the inpatient home of UCLA’s orthopaedic, geriatric and general medicine programs.

Key components of the new campus include:

• The Orthopaedic Hospital Institute, featuring an outpatient clinic for adult and pediatric orthopaedics, the UCLA Department of Orthopaedics administrative and faculty offices, a library and museum-style display cases.

• 266 inpatient beds, most in private rooms that feature family space and sleeper chairs for rooming-in.

• A 22-bed adult and pediatric intensive care unit with the latest technology and 360-degree access to patients

• Santa Monica’s only inpatient pediatrics unit, a 26-bed facility.

• Integrated interventional and surgical services, including radiology and cardiac-catheterization labs, 16 state-of-the-art operating rooms and pre- and post-anesthesia care units.

• A conference center with meeting rooms and a 90-seat auditorium.

• A new cafeteria with indoor and outdoor seating.

The design of the hospital is inspired not only by the Northern Italianate architecture of original buildings on the UCLA campus, but also by hospitality concepts that speak to the character of the building, its public spaces and patient rooms. More than 25 percent of the new campus is dedicated to green and open spaces. The rebuilding project was launched in response to damage caused by the 1994 Northridge earthquake. The new hospital was built to meet the latest seismic safety standards and can withstand an earthquake of up to magnitude 8.4, while redundant power sources will allow the hospital to operate for at least 100 hours after an earthquake without receiving any help from the outside world.

Now that patients have been moved into the new facilities, the hospital’s existing, nine-story Tower building will be demolished to make way for additional landscaped gardens. A majority of the concrete and steel from the Tower will be recaptured, ground and recycled into new concrete and steel for future projects. Final site improvements should take about one year to complete.