Health Matters spoke with Nick Lymberopoulos about the new Friese Family Patient Tower
You first worked at this hospital in 2003. Who’s older, you or the hospital?
The hospital, just by a bit. I was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley. Several generations of my family chose to get their care from the doctors affiliated with this hospital. My son and granddaughter were born here, and I’ve been a patient here Needless to say, I feel blessed to be the chief executive.
What will you do to celebrate the big opening?
We cared for our first patient on October 8, 1973. And we’re opening the new tower on October 1, 2023. We are in the planning phases of celebrating on a grand scale—with our caregivers, physicians, donors and the larger community.
How big will the new tower be?
We are more than doubling the square footage of the current tower. It will have state-of-the-art equipment and private rooms throughout. Thanks to the $50 million gift of Donald and Andrea Friese and their family, it’s going to transform care in the San Fernando Valley. Our vision is to become a destination hospital.
Is there one thing about the expansion that has you particularly excited?
I am most excited about our emergency room. It’s 50 years old, and in that 15-bed emergency room we see more than 50,000 patients a year. When we move to the new tower, we will have a state-of-the-art 32-bed emergency room, more than twice the size of our current one, which will allow us to care for a significant portion of our community in their time of greatest need.
What else can we look forward to?
There is so much! Not only will we have a new emergency department and tower; we will also have a brand-new lobby, a refurbished NICU, increased capacity in our intensive care and telemetry units, state-of-the- art imaging equipment, a heritage hall that proudly displays the histories of Providence, Cedars-Sinai, and Tarzana medical centers, and much more.
Come October 1, how do you plan to move all the patients?
Over the past year, we have developed an extremely detailed plan that includes moving patients from the current tower to the new tower, one that includes all disciplines, paths of travel, dedicated caregivers, and such to ensure that all our patients are moved in a safe manner.
Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana’s promise of personalized care?
When you come to Tarzana, regardless of who you are, you’ll get the same amazing care and God’s healing love. Our promise, “Know me, care for me, ease my way, focuses on each patient being unique—somebody’s mother, father, sister, brother, son or daughter.
We understand you’re at the most vulnerable time in your life when you are in the hospital, and we want you to feel safe and comforted knowing you will receive incredible medical care.
