issue 8 | Spring 2008
Great Medicine
News from John Muir Health Foundation
Retired Gen. Dan Helix leads a
champagne toast to the expansion
of John Muir Medical Center Concord Campus.
briefings
Diane Hanson (L) points out her husband, Fred Hanson, M.D., depicted in a 1963
photo of the first groundbreaking for John Muir Memorial Hospital in Walnut Creek.
Irene Malley (R) also appears in the photograph, second figure from the right.
History in the Making
left Photo by Akim Aginsk y; right photo by Terry lor ant
John Muir Health Foundation donors and friends usher in an exciting new
phase for john muir health as two hospital expansion projects break ground
John Muir Health Foundation donors and friends recently
celebrated two historic John Muir Health events: groundbreaking for the new Thomas J. and Muriel T. Long Patient
Care Tower at the Walnut
Creek Campus on January 16
On The Move
and groundbreaking for the
The first phase of the new Walnut
new patient care tower at the
Creek Emergency Department is
Concord Campus on February
now open. It relocated without
7. The John Muir Health Founany interruption in service at
dation hosted special pre3 a.m. on January 29, 2008.
receptions before each of the
groundbreaking ceremonies,
with champagne toasts to salute the rich histories of both
medical centers, and to honor the many donors, friends
and community leaders who have supported the work and
mission of these hospitals.
Both hospitals are expanding to meet the growing
healthcare needs of our community, and both projects are
targeted for completion in late 2010.
“It’s great to expand infrastructure, but it’s also important to keep in mind that you measure a hospital not just
by its capacity, but by the quality of the healthcare that’s
delivered,” says retired Gen. Dan Helix, a former volunteer
leader at the hospital in Concord. “John Muir is clearly
committed to quality care. These important groundbreakings mean we’re one step closer to delivering an even
higher level of care and furthering our tradition of service
to the community.”
“With strong
support from the
community, we
will get a better
hospital, sooner,”
says Capital
Campaign donor
Andrew T. Hass.
Executive
vice president’s
Message
D o n o r S P O T L IGH T
The Right
Project, the
Right Way
The way Andrew T. Hass looks at it, one
of the hallmarks of a great community
is a great hospital. Recently, he and his
wife, Annette, made a generous gift to
the Walnut Creek Campus Capital Campaign—a contribution to help ensure
that John Muir Medical Center continues
to be Contra Costa County’s premier
healthcare facility.
“It’s going to be such a fabulous expansion project,” says Hass, with genuine
enthusiasm. “And best of all, it’s being
done the right way. They’re not doing it
second rate, not cutting any corners.”
Hass says his background and experience played no small part in his ability to
evaluate the merits of John Muir’s ambitious expansion plan and his decision to
support it. In his several decades working in or running his own CPA firm, he’s
become well versed in the financial side
of hospital operations, having numbered
among his clients leading healthcare fa-
cilities on both sides of the San Francisco
Bay. And as the son of two architects, he
knows his way around a blueprint.
“I was really amazed at what John Muir is
planning,” says Hass, who’s taken the time
to review the plans in detail. “It’s up-to-date
on current thinking about hospital design.”
The Hasses’ $50,000 donation will fund
the Annette and Andrew Hass Conference Room in Radiology. “I like the idea
of conferencing to solve problems,” Hass
explains. “I’ve seen the inside workings of
hospitals, both as a patient and observing
it from the financial side in the business
office. It’s more complicated now than it’s
ever been, and I’m happy to help.”
Hass is certain that his family’s gift to
John Muir is the right thing to do, at the
right time, and is equally convinced others
should follow his example. “If we live in
this community, we’re going to use the
facilities, and we all should do our part if
we want them to be first rate.”
J O H N M U I R H E A LT H F OUN D AT I ON B O A R D O F D I RE C T ORS
care and services for our
patients and community.
Susan D. Woods
Gerald D. Stroffolino
Sandy Wagner
Chair
Officer-At-L arge
Auxiliary President
Robert F. Saydah
Milt J. Smith
Vice Chair
President
Ken Meehan
Marion B. Iles
JMH Foundation
Executive Vice President,
Operations
John Muir Health
Secretary/ Tre asurer
J. Kendall Anderson
Carlotta R. Dathe
President & Ceo
Peter A. Brightbill
William B. Chiasson
Nourollah B. Ghorbani, M.D.
Guy R. Henshaw
Rachel J. Lavigne
Michael L. Levine, M.D.
Howard D. Maccabee, M.D., Ph.D.
Officer-At-L arge
Gerald J. Origlia
Officer-At-L arge
John Muir He alth
Kenneth L. Meehan
Executive VP, Oper ations
John Muir He alth
Celeste C. Pacelli
Scott L. Singley
Vivian W. Wing, M.D.
Honorar y Direc tors
F. Gerard FitzPatrick
Margery B. Sterns
left photo by terry lor ant; right photo by akim aginsk y
John Muir Health has now
broken ground for the two
major expansion projects
at its hospitals in Walnut
Creek and Concord. These
two historic events herald
not only the start of a new
phase of growth, but also
a culmination of years of
strategic planning and
preparation. At the core of
this planning process is our
unyielding commitment to
providing quality and compassionate patient care to
the communities we serve,
even during major construction. Our project schedules
have been designed in
strategic phases to minimize disruption to patient
services. A new, multilevel
parking garage is now open
at the Walnut Creek Campus, and complimentary
valet parking will continue
to be available at both hospitals. Change is not always
easy, and there are many
changes in store as we
expand our facilities. One
constant, however, is John
Muir Health’s commitment
to providing award-winning
b l u e p r i n t f o r g r owt h
Breaking New Ground
January 16, 2008, groundbreaking
John Muir Medical Center - Walnut Creek Campus
Photo by Terry Lor ant
(L-R) William Hoddick, M.D., Chief of Staff, John Muir Medical Center Walnut Creek Campus; Ken Meehan, Executive Vice President, Operations, John Muir Health; Jane Willemsen, President & CAO, John Muir
Medical Center - Walnut Creek Campus; Ken Anderson, President &
CEO, John Muir Health; Gwen Regalia, Mayor, City of Walnut Creek;
Bob Coakley, Executive Director, The Thomas J. Long Foundation;
Don Ritchey, Chairman, Board of Directors, John Muir Health.
Susan Woods (center),
Chairman of the John Muir
Health Foundation Board
of Directors, with
Campaign donors
Janet and Rick Cronk.
Don Ritchey, Chairman of the
John Muir Health Board of Directors, invited all community
members to join him and his
wife, Sharon, in supporting
the exciting building projects
at the Walnut Creek and Concord campuses.
Guests view an
architectural model
of the expanded
Walnut Creek
Campus.
Photo by Terry Lor ant
February 7, 2008, Groundbreaking
John Muir Medical Center - Concord Campus
all photos by akim aginsk y unless otherwise indicated
John Muir Health Foundation Honorary Board
Members Margery Sterns
and Jerry FitzPatrick.
Tamera and Ken Anderson, with Jim Diaz
(R) of Kaplan-McLaughlin-Diaz, the architectural firm that designed the new Concord
Campus patient care tower.
Michael Levine, M.D.,
(L) and Stuart Shikora,
M.D., examine floor plans
of the new patient care
tower that will house the
John Muir Cardiovascular
Institute and a new, larger
Emergency Department at
the Concord Campus.
(L-R) Retired Gen. Dan Helix, former Mayor, City of Concord; Ken
Anderson, President & CEO, John Muir Health; Bill Shinn, Mayor,
City of Concord; Ken Meehan, Executive Vice President, Operations, John Muir Health; Randall Wenokur, M.D., Chief of Staff, John
Muir Medical Center - Concord Campus; Tom Harlan, President &
CAO, John Muir Medical Center - Concord Campus.
o n t h e jo b
Building for
the Better
“What an exciting building project,”
says new VP Michael Monaldo,
who’s also a licensed architect.“The
culture of this organization is really
devoted to quality care.”
Michael Monaldo recently joined John
Muir Health as Vice President for Facilities Development, just in time to oversee
John Muir’s multimillion-dollar construction projects in Walnut Creek and Concord. Here,
Monaldo discusses some of the nuts and bolts of the
construction plan, which is designed to maintain health
services without interruption and minimize neighborhood impact.
What are the main benefits of the two building projects?
The goal of these projects is to provide an exceptional
environment that matches the extraordinary healthcare
that John Muir is known for. That means providing the latest, greatest technology and creating a holistic, healing
environment for patients and their families. We’re also
making sure we comply with the new stringent requirements for seismic safety, which means these facilities will
not only remain safe during and after an earthquake but
will also remain fully operational.
What are the first stages of the construction projects
that patients and the community will notice?
Both hospitals are expanding out into former visitor
parking areas, and there have already been some significant changes at both campuses. On the Concord CamCopyright © 2008 by John Muir Health Foundation. Great Medicine is published by
John Muir Health Foundation as a community service and is not intended for the
purpose of diagnosing or prescribing.
pus, we’re closing a portion of the front parking lot and
also Almond Avenue, which will reopen at the project‘s
end. On the Walnut Creek Campus, we’ve created a
new, interim entry to the building and a new 767-stall
parking structure opened on January 2. The first stage
of the Emergency Department relocation and expansion opened on January 29, so now the best route to
the ED is to come to it directly off Ygnacio Valley Road
without turning onto La Casa Via. We will continue to
provide complimentary valet parking at both hospitals
for patients’ and visitors’ convenience.
With both projects, we worked very closely with
city officials and the neighbors to mitigate effects of
the construction. Street sweepers will sweep adjacent
streets, for instance, and we’ll hose down trucks before
they leave the job site. We’ve also paid close attention
to noise control in planning routes for truck deliveries.
Is there a phone number the public can call if they
have questions or concerns?
We’ve set up a 24-hour hotline for both campuses,
(925) 947-3333, to field questions and get input. We want
to be a good neighbor and we are glad to hear from the
communities we serve.
Non-Profit Org.
U.S. Postage
1400 Treat Boulevard
Walnut Creek, CA 94597-2142
PAID
Walnut Creek, CA 94596
Permit No. 1351
photo by akim aginsk y
get the scoop on John
Muir’s building projects
from our new VP