The University of California, Irvine Medical Center is a major research
hospital located in Orange, California. It is the teaching center for the
University of California, Irvine School of Medicine.
Organizational history Plans had been in place since the
founding of the school for a medical division. Space was set aside on campus
for what was envisioned to become the heart of busy medical, veterinary, and
dental facilities, with a major hospital as the centerpiece. This would model the
emerging and eventually preeminently successful hospital campuses at the
University of California, Los Angeles and the University of California, San
Diego. The medical school wasn't originally planned to begin until the
university had time to establish itself and stabilize sources of funding.
Political wrangling between the American Medical Association and Californian
osteopaths brought the medical school to UCI early.
The California School of Medicine was the oldest continuously operating
medical college in the Southwest United States. Starting in 1896, as the Pacific
College of Osteopathy, it changed name to the College of Osteopathic Physicians
and Surgeons. Pressure by the AMA brought an end to its tenure in the
osteopathic discipline, and the newly renamed California School of Medicine
merged with the UC system in 1965, after efforts to keep it in LA or move to Long
Beach broke down. Problems for UCI however were just beginning.
Dean of Medicine Stanley van den Noort was adamant about gaining a teaching
hospital on campus. This placed him and a portion of the faculty on a collision
course with many powerful political figures on the local and state level
especially Governor Jerry Brown. Brown managed to block the release of funds
earmarked for the hospital's construction and then divert them toward
the founding of UCSF's dental school. He then vetoed a compromise van den Noort
worked up for UCI to take care of Orange County Medical Center's patients in
exchange for a 200-bed hospital. Under pressure from Brown the UC purchased the
OCMC in 1976 from the county who no longer wished to maintain the aging and
problematic facilities. The controversial acquisition effectively
halted the push for an on-campus hospital, angering many faculty.
Van den Noort continued to lobby in vain for an on-campus facility pointing out
the benefits a main campus hospital could have on the development and flow
of research ideas on campus as well as the financial drain OCMC would have on
the school. Many hospital staff were also wary of joining the school. An
abortive attempt to establish a hospital through private venture ended with the
death of the entire planning committee in a plane crash. UCI's supporters were
again dealt a blow when opposing political pressure successfully lobbied
the state to build the Irvine Medical Center against the school's wishes,
ending UCI's chances due to its proximity. In 1983 Chancellor Aldrich
chose to drop his support ending ambitions for the time being. The
university has since greatly expanded the facility and services of the medical
center. Since then, the medical center has grown
in size and reputation. It is building a new hospital, to be completed in early
2009, and is home to the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, the
county’s only National Cancer Institute-designated center for cancer
treatment and research. Other onsite buildings include the Neuropsychiatric
Center, the UCI Health Sciences Laboratories building and clinical
outpatient pavilions on the medical center site, as well as community family
health centers in Irvine, Santa Ana, Westminster and Anaheim.
Just prior to UCI's acquisition in 1976, the medical center had about 2,100
employees. Today, UC Irvine Medical Center has more than 3,500
employees—among them, 243 who were working at the medical center when it
changed hands. UC Irvine Medical Center was named by
U.S. News and World Report as one of the nation’s top 50 hospitals for
gynecology, cancer, digestive disorders and urology. It has the county’s only
Level I trauma center and its sole multiple-organ transplant center, and is
the only hospital in the area offering a number of specialized surgeries,
including brain surgery for epilepsy. The medical center has been home to a
number of firsts—including the first heart transplant in Orange County, the
first implant on the West Coast of an insulin pump in a patient with diabetes,
and a number of research breakthroughs involving therapy for cancer and other
diseases. Capabilities
University of California, Irvine Medical Center is the only university hospital
in Orange County with more than 400 specialty and primary care physicians.
The medical center offers a full scope of acute- and general-care services
including, cardiac surgery, cancer, pediatrics, neurosurgery and trauma. It
is the only hospital in Orange County recognized in U.S. News & World Report’s
annual listing of "America's Best Hospitals" and first to receive Magnet
Designation for nursing excellence. The medical center has also been named one
of the nation’s top hospitals for quality and safety by the Leapfrog
Group. Located in the City of Orange, 13 miles
from the UCI campus, UC Irvine Medical Center has 449 licensed beds and is the
principal clinical facility for the teaching and research programs of the UC
Irvine School of Medicine. At present, the medical center is building a new
university hospital that will include modern facilities for conducting the
latest medical research and training for future and practicing physicians.
Planned for completion in early 2009, the seven-story hospital will have 191
rooms, 13 operating rooms, and interventional procedure rooms. Private
patient rooms will emphasize individualized patient care and allow
family members to stay overnight. The new rooms will be in addition to the
existing 102 beds in the medical center’s tower and the 84-bed
Neuropsychiatric Center. The University Children’s Hospital at UC
Irvine Medical Center is devoted to the care of children from before birth
through adolescence. Perinatologists at UC Irvine Medical Center are available
for the expert management of high-risk pregnancies and critically ill newborns
are cared for in the county’s most sophisticated neonatal unit. The medical
center houses a 24-hour emergency department and is designated as Orange
County’s only Level I Trauma Center − the most comprehensive for the treatment
of life-threatening injuries. UC Irvine Medical Center is also home to the Chao
Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, the only facility in Orange County
designated as a comprehensive cancer center by the National Cancer Institute.
It offers patients a full range of cancer therapies and research programs,
including laser and radiation therapy, endoscopic ultrasound, and
immunotherapy. UC Irvine Douglas Hospital
On February 7, 2005, construction begun on a $375 million replacement central
hospital adjacent to the existing UCI Medical Center facility. In addition to
expanding patient services, the new hospital will provide the UCI School of
Medicine with a modern facility for conducting the latest medical research
and training future and practicing physicians. It will also employ
architecture that offers private patient rooms, natural light for daytime
illumination, and carefully designed labs and offices. The new seven-story
facility was designed by HOK architects, TMAD Engineers, Nabih Youssef &
Associates Structural Engineers, and the project contractor is Hensel Phelps
Construction Company. In early 2009, UC Irvine opened the new
UC Irvine Douglas Hospital, renamed after a $21 million posthumous gift from
the estate of M.A. Douglas. UC Irvine Health Sciences
The UCI Medical Center is part of the UC Irvine Health Sciences system, which is
composed of a number of patient care locations that mainly cater to
lower-income areas of Orange County. In addition to the main hospital in Orange,
other facilities include: UCI Family Health Center in Anaheim,
California Gottschalk Medical Plaza in Irvine,
California UCI Medical Pavilions in Orange
UCI Manchester Pavilions in Orange UCI Family Health Center in Santa Ana,
California Surgery Laser Clinic in Irvine
UCI Westminster Medical Center in Westminster, California
UCI Gavin Herbert Eye Institute in Irvine, California
Controversies In 2003, UCI hired Jagat Narula and Mani
Vannan as the chief and division chief of cardiology. Neither was board
certified in internal medicine nor cardiology, and neither had a California
medical license. In 2003, Dr. Glenn Provost presented a 13-signature
petition outlining anesthesia safety problems. He stated that soon after
complaining about a supervisor forcing him "to take patients to the operating
room without consent, chart, or preoperative check-in by the operating
room nurse ... in an attempt to cut costs," he was fired and blackballed.
Persons close to the case feel that there was a vendetta against Dr. Provost
by Cynthia "Butterball" Anderson, the prior chair.
In 2005, it came to light that 32 patients had died while waiting for
liver transplants at UCI. The livers were available, but, for two years, UCI
did not have a full-time surgeon to implant them, in contravention of
federal regulations. UCI's surgeon was actually on staff at UC San Diego, 70
miles away. A patient at UCI, Elodie Irvine, filed a lawsuit which brought
scrutiny upon the hospital. Ms. Irvine, who had liver and kidney disease, had 95
organs offered for transplant by the United Network for Organ Sharing during
her stay at UCI. The hospital allegedly told the patient that they were waiting
for organs, when in fact they rejected every organ offered to them. Only one
UCI physician advised her to look elsewhere for a transplant.
References External links
UCI Medical Center UCI Health Sciences
This hospital in the CA Healthcare Atlas A project by OSHPD