[Henry Mayo Newhall] -Public officials joined other special guests today during a groundbreaking ceremony for the new patient tower at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital. Additional ceremonies were held throughout the day for employees, physicians and volunteers.

The $151 million project is all part of the hospital’s approved master plan which was developed to meet the growing healthcare needs of the Santa Clarita Valley community, including the demand for private rooms with bathrooms and additional surgery space.

“This is a proud day for Henry Mayo and a great day for our community,” said Roger Seaver, President and CEO of the hospital. “Our new patient tower will allow us to expand services and for our healthcare team to provide an even better experience for our patient population. Every detail of this new tower, which features all private patient rooms, was designed with the goal of providing a safe, comfortable environment for our patients and their loved ones.”

The patient tower will provide up to 142 additional patient beds to the hospital’s campus in Valencia and two new surgery suites in the Women’s Services Unit. Other features include enhanced dietary services and a new, larger cafeteria with a hotel-quality kitchen and a central atrium to better accommodate the dining and nutritional needs of the hospital’s patients, staff, physicians, volunteers and visitors; expanded laboratory services and materials management services; a rooftop helipad with direct access to the Emergency Department is expected to improve response time, which is important to successful outcomes for trauma patients.

Bernards and HMC Architects are collaborating on the building and design of the six-story, 160,000-square-foot patient tower—one floor will be dedicated to Women’s Services and Cesarean Section surgery space; three floors of the patient tower will house three new medical/surgical units including 90 patient beds. The patient tower is scheduled to be open for public use in 2019, pending state licensing