Nicole Lewis, center, and Samantha Kubaska, right, give a tour of the Mammogram Reading department in the new Women’s Health Pavilion for Assemblymember Diane Dixon, left, in Laguna Hills on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Within days of the building’s completion, MemorialCare Saddleback Medical Center officials this week celebrated the opening of what they call one of the “largest and most comprehensive” women’s healthcare centers in Southern California.
The 40,000-square-foot, three-level facility is a one-stop shop for women’s health and fills community care needs, doctors said. Construction began two years ago and cost about $70 million.
Reception area of the Memorial Care Cancer Institute inside the new Women’s Health Pavilion at Saddleback Medical Center in Laguna Hills on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley tours the Renewal Boutique inside the new Women’s Health Pavilion at Saddleback Medical Center in Laguna Hills on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
One of the Screening Mammography rooms in the new Women’s Health Pavilion at Saddleback Medical Center in Laguna Hills on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Nicole Lewis, center, and Samantha Kubaska, right, give a tour of the Mammogram Reading department in the new Women’s Health Pavilion for Assemblymember Diane Dixon, left, in Laguna Hills on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Guests attend the grand opening event for the new Women’s Health Pavilion at Saddleback Medical Center in Laguna Hills on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
The new Women’s Health Pavilion at Saddleback Medical Center in Laguna Hills on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. Turner Construction Co. helped build the three-story building. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Officials and donors celebrate after cutting the ribbon for the new Women’s Health Pavilion at Saddleback Medical Center in Laguna Hills on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. Joining in the ribbon cutting were Assemblymember Diane Dixon, fourth from left, Sarah and Taylor Nederlander, fifth and sixth from left, and Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley, second from right. Sarah and Taylor Nederlander are major donors for the new facility. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Guests tour the new Women’s Health Pavilion at Saddleback Medical Center during the grand opening event in Laguna Hills on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Sarah, left, and Taylor Nederlander say a few words before the ribbon cutting ceremony for the Women’s Health Pavilion at Saddleback Medical Center in Laguna Hills on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. The sisters are major donors for the new facility. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Christy Ward, president of MemorialCare Saddleback Medical Center Foundation address guests at the grand opening event for the new Women’s Health Pavilion in Laguna Hills on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Sarah Nederlander, fifth from right, and her sister Taylor, sixth from right, cut the ribbon for the new Women’s Health Pavilion during the official opening at Saddleback Memorial Medical Center in Laguna Hills on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. The sisters are major donors for the new facility. Also joining in the ribbon cutting were Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley, second from right, and Assemblymember Diane Dixon, fourth from left. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Guests enter the new Women’s Health Pavilion at Saddleback Medical Center for the grand opening in Laguna Hills on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
1 of 12
Reception area of the Memorial Care Cancer Institute inside the new Women’s Health Pavilion at Saddleback Medical Center in Laguna Hills on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
“The idea of a comprehensive breast center that has all of the subspecialists involved with breast care under one roof is the ultimate in terms of quality care,” said Dr. Gary Levine, the pavilions director who has been with MemorailCare for a decade and before that led Hoag Hospital’s breast center. “We know traditionally women would go to a radiology facility for their mammogram and to another facility for an ultrasound, then somewhere else for a biopsy. If they were diagnosed, they would be sent somewhere else to see a surgeon, an oncologist, or a plastic surgeon.”
Levine said this cumbersome process often impacts the quality of care because information can be delayed or lost as patients move from facility to facility.
The new building, located directly across a parking lot from the main hospital in Laguna Hills, includes the already-established MemorialCare Breast Center. Those offices have now been moved to the new center.
The pavilion’s focus is not only on treating diseases or conditions, but also on a woman’s entire wellness needs.
Described as a spa-like environment, the facility and its programs will offer advanced technology and community education services. The education center includes nutritional counseling, wellness classes, and options for yoga and Pilates classes.
Among offerings are mental wellness support, a survivorship program, breast care navigators and a women’s health services navigator. The facility will also perform oncology and OBGYN surgeries. Patients will also have access to certified nurse midwives, genetic counseling, a skin cancer program, and a cancer care boutique.
Levine said doctors and care staff have been gradually added as the breast care center has grown. The Laguna Hills campus will have the largest location, but Levine added that MemorialCare in total has nine breast centers across Southern California.
Last year, he said MemeorialCare’s breast center in Laguna Hills diagnosed more than 600 new patients; with the health system’s other eight centers, that number was 1,200.
“Women have careers and families,” Levine said. “Prioritizing their own healthcare is often difficult. Having a women’s health pavilion certainly promotes this.”
