Kaiser Permanente has opened a new state-of-the-art 352-bed hospital in Downey, which will provide high-quality, personal, and affordable healthcare in Southeast Los Angeles County for many years into the future. The $390 million Kaiser Permanente Downey Medical Center is located near the northwest corner of the intersection of Imperial Highway and Bellflower Boulevard, situated close to Kaiser Permanente’s outpatient Garden and Orchard Medical Office Buildings.
The full-service hospital will largely replace Kaiser Permanente’s Bellflower Medical Center, located approximately one-mile to the south, which opened 44 years ago in 1965. “Healthcare has changed a great deal since 1965, the year Medicare was signed into law,” said Jane Finley, the executive director of Kaiser Permanente Downey Medical Center. “Change will continue, and we want to continue to help keep this community healthy. Kaiser Permanente is ensuring that our nearly 300,000 local members have outstanding immediate and preventive healthcare today and in the future.”
Over 95 percent of the Kaiser Permanente Downey Medical Center hospital beds are in family-friendly private rooms featuring pull-out beds for overnight stays. It is also equipped to handle the over 3,400 annual births that were typical at the former hospital in Bellflower. The new hospital has 18 private birthing and recovery suites and one of the region’s largest and most advanced neonatal intensive care units (49 beds, California Children’s Services certified level III NICU).
The six-story facility meets stringent state seismic requirements, which will allow it to continue providing its services to the surrounding communities in the event of an earthquake. The new hospital has a full-service emergency department and a 24-hour pharmacy. It includes a variety of environmentally-friendly features such as large windows to allow for an abundance of natural light and thereby reduce the dependence on artificial lighting, carpeting made from recycled materials, use of 100 percent of fresh air and no recirculation, and paint made from non-toxic materials.