Joe C. Wen & Family Center for Advanced Care Center opens its doors
500 patients seen on the first day on UCI Health ― Irvine campus
May 03, 2024
The exterior of the newly opened Joe C. Wen & Family Center for Advanced Care.
Orange, Calif. — The first part of the construction of UCI Health ― Irvine is complete with the opening of the Joe C. Wen & Family Center for Advanced Care on April 30.
On the Center for Advance Care’s first day in operation, approximately 500 patients sought world-class care from specialists at Orange County’s only academic health system.
The center is a 168,000-square-foot state-of-the-art facility featuring 120 exam rooms and offers a full range of pediatric and adult specialty services.
“I feel immense gratitude for every single team member who made this important project successful,” says UCI Health President and CEO Chad T. Lefteris. “Because of their dedication, we are able to create more access to academic medicine and set a new standard for excellence in patient care.”
Construction of the $221 million, 168,000-square-foot facility was approved by the University of California Board of Regents in August 2020 and was augmented by a $20 million gift from Joe C. Wen and his family. Wen is the founder and chief executive of Sakura Paper Inc., a division of Formosa Ltd. The gift is one of the largest ever to the University of California, Irvine.
Floor by floor tour
The new building features:
Level one: Center for Children's Health, including the Center for Autism & Neurodevelopmental Disorders, comprehensive laboratory and imaging services, and urgent care
Level two: Center for Children's Health provided by Children's Hospital of Orange County (CHOC)
Level three: The UCI Health Digestive Health Institute, and adult primary and specialty care, including cardiology, ear, nose and throat, endocrinology, gastroenterology, gynecology, hepatology, primary care, sports medicine, urology and vascular surgery services
Level four: Neurosciences, orthopaedics, spine and pain management.
Coming soon: cancer care, new hospital
The second phase of the $1.3 billion Irvine medical complex, the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center and Ambulatory Care building, will open to patients in July.
Together, the Wen and cancer centers will foster research efforts — the foundation of an academic health system — giving patients access to the latest, most promising new therapies unavailable elsewhere.
The final phase of the Irvine medical complex will be a 144-bed acute care hospital complete with a 24-hour emergency department, which are scheduled to open in 2025.
“This medical center will have a such positive impact on so many lives,” says Donna Hurt, director of ambulatory care administration, who has helped oversee staffing and service operations for the Wen center. "I'm honored to be a part of such great work."
Leading the way in sustainability
The 800,000-square-feet of clinical space at UCI Health ― Irvine campus is powered by an innovative central utility plant that uses clean energy. The facility sets a precedent in an industry known for massive power demands and large carbon dioxide emissions.
No natural gas or carbon combustion are used as power sources. Solar panels atop the parking structures supplement the power supply. However, backup diesel generators are maintained in case of emergencies or blackouts, in compliance with federal and state requirements.
The CUP also houses state-of-the-art chillers for heating and cooling the new campus. Unlike conventional chillers that dissipate heat into the atmosphere, these units will recapture and utilize it for space heating and hot water.
The CUP is a critical element of the health system’s mission to model environmental stewardship and expand care in the communities it serves.
About UCI Health
UCI Health is the clinical enterprise of the University of California, Irvine, and the only academic health system based in Orange County. UCI Health is comprised of its main campus, UCI Medical Center, a 459-bed, acute care hospital in in Orange, Calif., four hospitals and affiliated physicians of the UCI Health Community Network in Orange and Los Angeles counties and ambulatory care centers across the region. Listed among America’s Best Hospitals by U.S. News & World Report for 23 consecutive years, UCI Medical Center provides tertiary and quaternary care and is home to Orange County’s only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center, high-risk perinatal/neonatal program and American College of Surgeons-verified Level I adult and Level II pediatric trauma center, gold level 1 geriatric emergency department and regional burn center. UCI Health serves a region of nearly 4 million people in Orange County, western Riverside County and southeast Los Angeles County. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.
About UCI Health — Irvine
UCI Health — Irvine, a new medical complex at the north end of the UC Irvine campus, is bringing unparalleled expertise and the finest evidence-based care that only an academic health system can offer to the communities of coastal and south Orange County. As part of UCI Health — which includes the flagship UCI Medical Center in Orange, Orange County’s only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center and multiple outpatient care locations — the new 1.2 million-square-foot campus will offer key clinical programs in oncology, digestive health, neurology, neurosurgery, orthopedics and spine surgery. The nation’s first medical center powered by an all-electric central utilities plant, UCI Health — Irvine is home to the Joe C. Wen & Family Center for Advanced Care, a five-story, 168,000-square-foot medical facility offering multidisciplinary specialty care for children and adults, urgent care services, the Center for Children’s Health and the UCI Health Center for Autism & Neurodevelopmental Disorders, and the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center and Ambulatory Care building, a five-story, 225,000-square-foot structure. Coming in 2025: a seven-story, 350,000-square-foot, acute care hospital and emergency department.
