Screen grab via Valley Children's video

As the Central Valley grows its national presence and its population, it is also building out its hospitals to support the current and future residents in the area.

While unfortunately Madera Community Hospital closed its doors with an unclear future, other hospitals have been busy with expansions, remodeling and even ground-up construction.

According to projections, Fresno County’s population is projected to reach 1,112,010 this year, up from the Census Bureau’s population estimates from July 2022 of 1,015,190.

 

Community Regional Medical

In May 2022, the first patients were moved to Clovis Community’s new five story bed tower, part of a $430 million, four-year expansion to increase hospital capacity by 41% to 352 all-private rooms.

Construction at the 42-acre Clovis Community campus features new medical offices, additional parking for patients and expanded service areas.

The expansion included a new-state-of-the-art Heart & Lung Institute, an additional 15,000 square-feet of emergency department space, 12 new emergency department beds, six more operating rooms, enhanced radiology and lab services and expanded seating and food options for patients and visitors.

New surgical and procedure additions include three catheterization labs, two cardiac operating rooms and one advanced hybrid operating room.

Community Health Partners opened Community Primary Care—Milburn in Northwest Fresno last fall. By the end of this summer, Community Health Partners will open its 40th medical practice, providing patients with access to care closer to home.

To keep up with the growing needs for hospital beds in the region, Community Regional Medical Center in Downtown Fresno has added 285 beds in the last 15 years.

 

Saint Agnes Medical Center

St. Agnes Medical Center is in the process of finalizing plans for an expansion of it emergency department, which will significantly increase the capacity to care for emergency patients.

Construction is expected to begin in 2024, and will take a couple of years to complete.

The expansion will also come with a façade change to the hospital.

The new 40,000 square foot emergency department will be constructed on the first floor in front of the hospital.

The construction will not disrupt the existing emergency department.

 

Valley Children’s Healthcare

While there have been no construction projects announced for the Valley Children’s Healthcare Hospital building in Madera, there is going to be some work for its energy efficiency.

In April, Valley Children’s Healthcare announced it would install the largest pediatric health care-based renewable energy microgrid in the country.

The renewable energy microgrid, set to be online and operation in 2025, will ensure the hospital and buildings on its campus remain operational in the event of power outages in the region.

 

River Vista Behavioral Health Hospital

 While efforts in the Central Valley are underway to create a strong hospital system for its resident’s physical health, mental health support is just as needed in the area.

Universal Health Services (UHS), in collaboration with Valley Children’s Health Care, finished construction on its new River Vista Behavioral Health building in June.

Located along the bluffs overlooking the San Joaquin River in Madera, the 81,600 square-foot state-of-the-art facility will house 128 beds, with 24 beds dedicated for children ages 5-17.

It will also feature an indoor gymnasium and outdoor wellness courtyards for recreation.

The project created over 150 on-site construction jobs.

The project broke ground in September 2021. The hospital opening will take place in phases.

The initial opening will start with 10 individuals until the facility receives joint commission accreditation, which is usually scheduled six weeks after opening day.

By the fall, the hospital will open the beds for children.

River Vista Behavioral Health will provide special programs for adults with co-occurring behavioral health and substance use issues, as well as programs for other behavioral health concerns including child adolescent and family counseling, and treatment for depression, anxiety disorders and other common mental health issues.

 

Kaweah Health

Kaweah Health Medical Center currently has three projects they’re working on, with the first two mentioned being partially grant-funded by the Kaweah Health Foundation.

Work continues on a multi-year project to completely upgrade the 22-bed Intensive Care Unit in the west expansion to modern standards.

The work will include a complete reconfiguration of the medication and cleaning supply room to improve operational efficiency of the clinical teams.

The overall project includes new nurse stations, new casework, refurbished headwall units in all the patient rooms and new flooring throughout the space.

The Medical Center’s lab is also seeing construction improvements. The lab’s second phase of a six-phase project was just finished.

The first phase of the project was the construction of a completely new blood bank, built to demonstrate top standards for the industry.

The remaining phases all revolve around the implementation of new state-of-the-art lab equipment.

Work for a new Critical Trauma (CT) Suite is underway, part of the expansion of the Imaging Department. This will also allow for the installation of a third CT machine to the Medical Center.

The project includes a new CT room, control room, pre/post procedure space, and a new nuclear medicine hot lab.

Once the new CT Suite is operational, the goal is to replace two older CT machines with the latest technology.