Construction of UCLA Health's has reached a major milestone with the installation of prefabricated exterior panels.
The installation process, which began Dec. 4 and is on track for completion later this month, is among the final steps in completing the building’s exterior. The envelope, as it is known, ensures that the structure is weather-tight and ready for interior construction.
“We are pleased to arrive at this pivotal phase of the project, on budget and on schedule for completion in 2026, thanks to the skill and commitment of the construction team and many others,” said UCLA Health Chief Operating Officer Richard Azar.
“This building is starting to look like the hospital we envisioned,” said , chief medical officer of the . “It’s a tangible reminder of the incredible progress we’ve made and the outstanding care this facility will provide.”
The made-to-order panels are prepared off-site with fiber cement finishes, framing, insulation, and waterproofing, and delivered fully assembled. They arrive on wide-load trucks to be crane-lifted in a specific order and hung on an upgraded structure. The installation process involves precisely placing more than 280 unique panels.
This innovative construction method streamlines quality control, reduces waste and enhances efficiency – all critical to keeping the project on track, said Suzanne Kiely, project manager with UCLA Health planning, design, and construction.
She credited McCarthy Building Companies Inc., one of UCLA Health’s lead contractors, for developing the method.
“These panels are a game changer,” Kiely said, using McCarthy’s language. “Building the panels in a controlled factory environment eliminates risks of delay due to weather. Plus, we shorten the overall schedule because panels are made off-site while the base structure is prepared at the site. Work happens concurrently rather than consecutively.”
She said the facility that manufactures the panels is “optimized for the work versus the traditional approach of coordinating multiple construction trades to bring all the elements together outdoors, vertically, several stories in the air. In this way, prefabricated walls can be safer and more cost-effective.”
The panels also support the hospital’s sustainability goals, incorporating high-performance materials to enhance energy efficiency and contribute to the pursuit of LEED Gold certification. The building envelope is key to reducing energy consumption, particularly for heating and cooling systems, which typically represent the largest portion of hospital energy use.
Following placement of all panels, the construction team will seal joints and install windows to create a weather-tight “shell” that will allow interior work — including mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems and drywall installation — to progress.
The five-story, 119-bed hospital is planned for completion in 2026 in the Mid-Wilshire neighborhood of Los Angeles about six miles east of UCLA’s main campus in Westwood. The hospital will relocate and expand the 74-bed UCLA Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital located within Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Westwood. It also will include a dedicated care area for crisis stabilization services, an asset not available in Westwood.
The new hospital is located on the site of the former Olympia Medical Center, which UCLA Health acquired in January 2021 following its closure. The acquisition also included a medical office building and parking structure, which are being upgraded to create a new behavioral health campus that will include not only the inpatient hospital but also new clinic spaces for the licensed behavioral health outpatient and partial hospital (day) programs relocating from Westwood.
