Stanford Health Care officially opens doors to new Stanford Hospital

Over 3½ hours Nov. 17, more than 1,600 staff members and faculty helped support the transition of around 200 patients into the new 824,000-square-foot hospital.

The Stanford Health Care transport team moved about 200 patients from the existing hospital into their rooms at the new hospital today via a skybridge. A new patient was transferred every three to four minutes.
Steve Fisch

Stanford Health Care marked a major milestone Nov. 17 by opening the doors to the new Stanford Hospital and safely transporting around 200 patients to the new facility across the skybridge that connects to the existing hospital at 300 Pasteur Drive. More than 1,600 staff and faculty were involved in making the successful transition.

Patient transportation began at 9 a.m. The last patient arrived in the new building at 12:30 p.m.

“We’ve been looking forward to opening the doors to our new hospital, and I’m proud to share this stunning new facility with our patients,” said David Entwistle, Stanford Health Care president and CEO. “I am also grateful to our incredible employees who went above and beyond to make this a seamless transition for our patients.”

The move day started at 7 a.m. with the opening of the Marc Andreessen and Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen Emergency Department at 1199 Welch Road, which serves adult and trauma patients. The emergency department's other location, at 900 Quarry Road Extension, is now dedicated to pediatric patients, further increasing emergency services at the hospital.

“In a period of roughly 3 ½ hours, a team of more than 1,600 Stanford Health Care employees moved hundreds of adult patients from the existing hospital to the new Stanford Hospital. On average, one patient was moved into the new hospital every three to four minutes,” said Helen Wilmot, vice president of facilities services and planning. “This is an incredible logistical feat that required months of planning.”

Sridhar Seshadri, chief administrative officer for destination service lines; Judith Wood, administrative director of imaging services; Sam Gambhir, professor and chair of radiology; and David Entwistle, president and CEO of Stanford Health Care, join members of the radiology team for the ribbon-cutting in the radiology department at the new Stanford Hospital.
Steve Fisch

The first patient to move into the new hospital was Texas resident Paul Lee, 51, a transplant patient.

In the new building, Lee said he liked the large size of his private room, the comfortable furniture for his family when they visit, and the view outside his window. “This is one of the best hospitals that I’ve ever been in,” Lee said, “and I’ve been in lots of them.”            

The opening of the new hospital was the culmination of more than a decade of planning and construction. The 824,000-square-foot, seven-story medical building features 368 private patient rooms and 28 state-of-the-art operating rooms. It is the only Level 1 trauma center between San Francisco and San Jose, and its emergency department is more than double the size of the existing one. 

Buckyball, a metal sculpture that's illuminated by LED lights at night, stands next to the entrance of the new Stanford Hospital.
Steve Fisch

“Welcoming the first patients to the new Stanford Hospital marks a major milestone in our precision health vision,” said Lloyd Minor, MD, dean of the Stanford School of Medicine. “In this world-class health care facility, we will not only treat disease, we will predict, prevent and cure it — precisely. After a decade of planning and construction, I’m excited that the new hospital is open and ready to advance the health and wellness of our surrounding communities and people around the world.”

The existing hospital at 300 Pasteur Drive will remain in operation and will be renovated and converted to contain all private rooms, creating a cohesive, campus-like experience for all Stanford Health Care patients. 

For more information, visit the new hospital’s website.

About Stanford Medicine

Stanford Medicine is an integrated academic health system comprising the Stanford School of Medicine and adult and pediatric health care delivery systems. Together, they harness the full potential of biomedicine through collaborative research, education and clinical care for patients. For more information, please visit med.stanford.edu.

2023 ISSUE 3

Exploring ways AI is applied to health care