UCI Health making history with nation’s first all-electric acute care hospital
Academic health system will open its sixth hospital in December, expanding access to care in region
IN THE NEWS: UCI Health is poised to make history this December when it opens UCI Health ― Irvine, the nation’s first all-electric acute care hospital.
The 144-bed facility, situated next to the serene San Joaquin Marsh, will merge high-technology with thoughtful design that incorporates the outdoors to promote comfort and healing for all who enter.
Joe Brothman, director of UCI Health General Services, spoke to CBS News about how the innovative, first-of-its-kind facility is different.
“This building is different from a traditional medical center in that we don’t use any carbon fuels for our normal operations. All of the electricity we use is either generated onsite or procured through sustainable sources.”
The healthcare sector is responsible for 8.5% of all carbon emissions. UCI Health is committed to minimizing its impact on the environment across all of its facilities, says UCI Health emergency medicine physician Dr. Ryan Gibney, the medical director of the emergency department at the new hospital.
“We have solar on the roof, we’re using recycled water. We’re really being intentional about our impact to this area being as little as possible so we can deliver the highest level of healthcare with minimal impact to the place around us.”
Learn more about UCI Health – Irvine.
Learn more about sustainability at UCI Health.
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, its flagship 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 a network of ambulatory care centers across the region. UCI Medical Center provides tertiary and quaternary care and is home to the only Orange County-based 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. Powered by UC Irvine, UCI Health serves nearly 5.7 million people in Orange County, western Riverside County and southeast Los Angeles County. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter).