Beyond the blueprint

When the first patients arrived at UCI Health — Irvine during its Dec. 10 opening, they stepped into a new standard for American healthcare: a seven-story, 144-bed acute care hospital that is both part of the region’s only academic health system and the nation’s first all-electric acute care hospital.

Tucked along the edge of the 300-acre San Joaquin Marsh Reserve, it brings together cutting-edge medicine; flexible surgical and intensive care spaces; a chef-inspired, culturally attuned menu; and a tranquil setting framed by native habitat and views of Saddleback Mountain.

“UCI Health — Irvine embodies what it means to be a modern public research university,” says UC Irvine Chancellor Howard Gillman. “We are extending world-class, research-driven care into the community in a way that is compassionate, forward-looking and deeply rooted in this place we call home.”

Orange County’s only academic health system

UCI Health is Orange County’s only academic health system, powered by UC Irvine’s world-class public research university. Working across disciplines, our physicians and teams turn discovery into impact for the more than 5.6 million people we serve, giving patients access to clinical trials, advanced therapies and multidisciplinary expertise available solely at an academic medical center.

The four schools in the Susan & Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences – in the areas of medicine, nursing, pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences, and population and public health – along with its centers and institutes of health, operate under a shared tripartite mission: Discover. Teach. Heal.

Together, they form a collaborative ecosystem that places the whole person at the center of care. This model emphasizes interdisciplinary collaboration, continuous quality improvement, and a unified cycle between discovery and clinical impact – a level of integration unmatched in Orange County and achieved by only a few health systems nationwide.

For residents of coastal and south Orange County, the new campus closes a long-standing gap in local access to academic medicine, bringing specialized care – from complex surgery to cancer treatment – closer to where people live and work.
 

Learn more about the nation’s first all-electric acute care hospital in the full feature story on UC Irvine News.