HAPPY NEW YEAR — The Week of December 28, 2020: Rain, Snow, and a Full Moon

The featured image might be called ‘Sunrise After the Storm.’ The previous day (12.28.20), most of Southern California had a significant rainstorm. At dawn, the following day, the mountains and foothills to the north were blanketed with snow. The first section of this yearend blog profiles the new hospitals on the Dennis and Carol Troesh Medical Campus. The outside of the towers are complete and architecturally blend with the iconic cloverleaf towers located just a few yards to the east. These images will most likely be the last featured under the owners (Loma Linda University Health) minimal access arrangement to the construction job site. Once the contractor/owner transfer is made, the owner’s ‘minimal’ access to the site will change to ‘substantial’ access. This status change means the owner–its selected key personnel–can have day-to-day access while the contractor is still on-site completing all the loose ends.

This week is the last for the year 2020 — the year of COVID-19, the worldwide pandemic. The year will go down in the record books as one of, if not the darkest years in US history. Some are predicting that COVID deaths in 2020 will exceed the US deaths during WWII. These are the stark facts according to WHO: Worldwide (as of 4:32 pm CET, December 30, 2020), there have been 80,773,033 confirmed cases; and 1,783,619 deaths. In the United States, 19,147,627 confirmed cases; and 332,423 deaths. In California, there have been 2.25 million (+34,166) cases; and recorded deaths, 24,963 (+425). In San Bernardino and Riverside Counties (service areas of Loma Linda University Health), there have been 376,522 reported confirmed cases; and 3,459 deaths. This pandemic is real! In August, I lost a dear friend from this hideous disease. As I write this blog, a dear friend (a physician, and no, they are not immune) lies in the hospital struggling to breathe.

Closer to home, the staff at Loma Linda University Medical Center are managing the Winter COVID-19 surge as best as they can. As of 8:30 pm (12.29.20), the Medical Center was treating 213 COVID-19 patients, and another 26 patients were being treated in the Children’s Hospital as there were no more Medical Center COVID beds. A physician friend of mine who is treating COVID patients at the Medical Center used four words to describe the situation: “It’s crazy around here.” Kudos to him and all of the frontline health workers who day in, day out (24/7) provide care to those critically ill patients who are suffering from the effects of this dreaded virus.

Year-end Profile of the Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital and Medical Center on the Dennis and Carol Troesh Medical Campus

**December 28, 2020:** The rain comes to Southern California

**December 29, 2020:** The early morning dawn brings white mountains, azure skies, and fluffy clouds.

December 29, 2020: The day brings with it a string of white clouds that spans the wide angle shot of the Dennis and Carol Troesh Medical Campus.

**December 29, 2020:** Toward the end of the day, the alpenglow falls on the distant mountains and the Loma Linda University Health towers of healing.

**December 29, 2020:** Night falls and a full moon rises and shines its light on the Loma Linda University Health Troesh Medical Campus.

**December 30, 2020:** The East Elevation under azure skies.

**December 30, 2020:** The Northeast elevations of the new hospital towers under azure skies loom tall over the cloverleaf towers at the lower right of the image.

May the clear azure skies this New Year’s Day be a harbinger for a better, brighter, blessed New Year! Bon débarras 2020!!

In the Throes of Wrapping it Up!

This morning (12.29.20), I asked one of the assistant job superintendents how things were going; he took off his hard had and, while wiping his brow, said: “In the throes of wrapping it up!” Images of some of the directional signs in this section are examples of “wrapping it up!”

Monument Signs at the Main Entrance

Despite the ladder and clutter in front of the window panels on the east side of the Galleria, the reflection in the glass is amazing.

An entrance monument directional sign at the main entrance located in the island between the main entrance and the short term parking lot.

Another entrance monument direction sign located in the island on the east side.

The exit directional monument sign located in the island on the east side.

A wide angle view of the main entrance drive from Prospect Avenue.

Monument Signs on the South Side

The monument sign at the Children’s Emergency parking lot entrance.

The monument sign (center right) on the west side of the entrance to the Children’s Emergency Department parking lot and drop off.

Dennis E. Park, MA

After graduate school Dennis accepted a position at Loma Linda University. He worked there for 42 years in the areas of administration and financial management, also teaching accounting and management to dietetic students at the School of Public Health. Through the years Dennis has chronicled the growth of the campus, including the construction of the Drayson Center and the Centennial Complex and the razing of Gentry Gym. He is the author of "The Mound City Chronicles: A Pictorial History of Loma Linda University, A Health Sciences Institution 1905 - 2005." dEp 09.30.2016 🔨

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