SMC Theatre Arts Building Wins L.A. Business Council Architecture Award
The dramatic new Theatre Arts Building at Santa Monica College’s main campus, which was designed by the Los Angeles office of international architecture, planning, engineering, interior design, and project management firm Leo A. Daly, has received a New Buildings Award from The Los Angeles Business Council as part of the group’s 38th Annual Los Angeles Architecture Awards program. The award was presented during a ceremony held at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills.
“We are pleased to recognize Leo A. Daly for their contribution to enhancing the world-class level of contemporary architecture in Los Angeles. It is the talent and creativity of their entire project team that makes development of this high quality and aesthetic appeal possible,” according to Mary Leslie, President of the Los Angeles Business Council.
The bold, contemporary design of the 20,000 square-foot, $17 million building, which opened its doors in September 2006, is the new home of the college’s award-winning performing arts program.
Replacing an overcrowded and aging 50-year-old facility, the teaching facility has greatly expanded the teaching capabilities of the theatre arts department and reinforced the program’s presence on campus. The building is one of the most recent additions to Santa Monica College’s main campus, which has undergone an architectural renaissance in recent years.
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Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center and Orthopaedic Hospital Opens City’s First Pediatric Intensive Care Unit for Severely Ill Children
Severely ill children who need intensive hospital care can now be treated in Santa Monica, with the opening of the new Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center and Orthopaedic Hospital.
The four-bed, 2,500-square-foot unit, which opened June 18, provides intensive medical care to children who need ventilators for breathing assistance or require constant monitoring of vital organs, including the heart, lungs, and kidneys. Children undergoing major surgeries, such as orthopaedic and spine procedures, also will be cared for in the unit.
It is the first of its kind in Santa Monica. Until now, severely ill children who needed intensive care had to be admitted or transferred to SM-UCLA & OH’s sister hospital, UCLA Medical Center in Westwood, or another hospital outside of the community.
“This unit represents another proud moment in the long and illustrious history of our hospital,” said Posie Carpenter, chief administrative officer. “It builds on our already outstanding reputation in women’s and children’s services and serves as another example of how the UCLA Health System is making its world-class resources and expertise more accessible to the Westside community.”
Carpenter noted that the PICU also will help ensure continuity of care for hospitalized children because SM-UCLA & OH operates the city’s only inpatient Pediatrics Unit for children who are not acutely ill but still require hospital care. Most PICU patients will transition to the regular Pediatrics Unit for continuing care before being discharged home.
SM-UCLA & OH’s expertise in caring for sick children actually begins at its Nethercutt Emergency Center. The 24-hour facility is the city’s only “Emergency Department Approved for Pediatrics.” The designation means the hospital has met established criteria for providing competent, age-friendly emergency care for sick children.
The PICU will be managed by Unit Director Lynn Coates-Leisen, who also manages the Pediatrics Unit and has extensive experience in this specialty, and Dr. Jennifer Geracht, a pediatric intensivist who serves as medical director.
