Of Code Blue, Dress Rehearsals, Scrubs, Food Pantries, Delectable Smells From the Grill, and Girl Scout Cookies

The New Loma Linda University Medical Center and Children’s Hospital on the Dennis and Carol Troesh Medical Campus are Showing Signs of Opening Soon.

Today, (July 15, 2021), was one of the busiest days in the new Loma Linda University Medical Center and Children’s Hospital on the Dennis and Carol Troesh Medical Campus Campus. Hosptial staff in street clothes and scrubs were scurrying about with dispatch. Dress rehearsals were taking place in many areas: Patient simulations were taking place in the Adult and Children’s Emergency Departments. On the third floor, where the operating suites are located, I saw a surgery team transporting a patient (simulation of course) down one of the hallways. On the ninth floor of the Children’s Hospital, I noticed staff sitting around one of the nurse’s stations as they listened to a team leader. All the while, I kept hearing intercom announcements (practice tests of course), one has grown to expect in hospitals, such as “Code Blue on Level __ Room __,” Dr. _______, Please report to _______,” and many other healthcare emergency codes the public may not recognize by design. There were times when the fire alarm would go on and off for testing purposes. The other day, I even heard the sounds of music, more soothing than the usual sounds of construction equipment, coming from the overhead speakers. One of the cafeteria supervisors suggested that I go to the adult and children’s kitchen on Level “A” to check on the staff who were getting acquainted with the new equipment. She took me down a floor via a dedicated kitchen elevator where there was a number of the kitchen staff talking excitedly among themselves in the adult kitchen and dishwasher room. I noticed that some of the coolers were being stocked. Even the shelves in a large pantry were stocked with staples. As I walked into the children’s kitchen, I could smell the aroma of food coming from one of the grills where two cooks were trying out the equipment. On my way out of the building, I decided to stop by the cafeteria one last time. As I opened the door, I captured one of the staff as she stocked one of the refrigerators with drinks. In addition to the activity inside the buildings, trucks loaded with various goods and supplies were being off-loaded at the receiving dock. Yes, Mabel, there are signs that the new Loma Linda University Medical Center and Children’s Hospital will open soon.

The Following Photographs Were Taken as I Made My Rounds in the Adult and Children’s Hospital Today