Henry Mayo scraps old plan, will build new hospital instead

Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial hospital officials announced today that they were scrapping the controversial 25 year expansion plan in favor of an ambitious new hospital plan that they say will address resident's concerns and provide for future healthcare needs in the Santa Clarita Valley. com exclusive report.

"We've had a lot of input from community members, the city, and our own doctors," Mayo CEO Roger Seaver told SCVTalk.com in an exclusive interview. "Based on that feedback, we've decided to scrap the entire plan and start fresh," Seaver said. The new plan, dubbed Health Star One, features a 100 million square foot orb that will hover directly over the Santa Clarita Valley, Seaver revealed to SCVTalk.com. "Health Star One represents the future of health care in the Santa Clarita Valley, and it allows us to massively expand office space and hospital space without impacting McBean Parkway or area homes," Seaver said. The orb, roughly half the size of the community of Valencia itself, will be put into stationary orbit 500 feet above Valencia once built. G&L Realty, Mayo's real estate partner, will fund the majority of the estimated $2 billion costs for the first-of-it's-kind floating hospital, which should be built by 2015. Patients, doctors, and hospital staff will travel to Health Star One in state-of-the-art air ambulances and traditional helicopters, avoiding congestion on McBean Parkway all together, hospital planners said. Inside, patients will recover in one of 5,000 spacious 2,000 sq. ft. rooms with views of the entire Santa Clarita Valley. Outpatients will have easy access to multiple Centers of Excellence located inside of the massive, gun-metal gray sphere, while doctors will work out of medical office space a stone's throw from their patients. "With this plan, Henry Mayo has addressed all resident and city concerns about the now-scrapped 25 year expansion plan," hospital consultant Jeff Lambert told SCVTalk.com. "Mr. Gauny shouldn't object to this plan at all. His views of the SCV from his house in the Summit will be unimpeded by Health Star One," Lambert said, in reference to David Gauny, who lead community opposition to the previous plan. According to the plans, Health Stare One will hover directly above Gauny's house, casting a shadow on all of Valencia. City officials reacted in disbelief to the plans for the massive, one of a kind floating hospital. Gail Ortiz, the city's communication manager, spit coffee out on her computer screen when she saw artist's renderings of Health Star One, a source inside the city's IT department told SCVTalk. She then ran out of her office screaming, the source said. The computer screen had to be replaced. Mayor Marsha McLean stared at the rendering slack-jawed, while City Manager Ken Pulskamp hurriedly reached for a bottle of Pepto Bismol, commonly used to treat indigestion and upset stomachs. "It's just so....big," McLean stuttered, her eyes wide in disbelief. According to local power attorney Hunt Braly, Henry Mayo Hospital won't even need to get approval from the City Council for Health Star One. "Because Health Star One literally floats above the city but doesn't actually reside in it, Henry Mayo and G&L can start building without any permits whatsoever," he said, sitting in his office in front of a dart-board covered with a picture of City Councilman TimBen Boydston. At a community meeting in the exclusive Valencia Summit neighborhood, hospital opponent David Gauny tried in vain to calm neighbors. "This has got to be a joke. Don't worry, I'll get to the bottom of it," a visibly-shaken Gauny said, after several women fainted. The floating hospital will feature state of the art magneto-levitation technology, according to plans. Inside the city-sized sphere, Mayo CEO Roger Seaver will occupy an office resembling the bridge of a spaceship. Hospital staff will manipulate levers and dials below a walkway leading up to Seaver's office. G&L Realty executives will also relocate their Beverly Hills offices into the floating sphere. Seaver insists the levitation technology is safe and has been tested for decades in Japan. "Health Star One will safely hover over the Santa Clarita Valley even in times of emergency. Earthquakes, brush fires, and riots won't affect us up there," he said. Providence Holy Cross, which recently announced its intention to build a traditional hospital somewhere in Santa Clarita, could not be reached for comment. Developing...

Comments (6)

honeystartpackingJuly 2 at 2:35 PM PT
Jeff, are you sure you've got your facts right? I heard that this was to be stationed behind the Great Wall of West Ranch. Gauny's been heavily promoting this West Ranch location, since he and his Valencia Summit neighbors don't want the Health Star occupants to be staring down into their yards.
SKPJuly 2 at 6:52 PM PT
This is hilarious, Jeff. News we'd love to see.
SCVoiceJuly 2 at 8:20 PM PT
Actually, only the medical office portion of Health Star One is guaranteed to be constructed during the next 25 years. "The levitation system, comprised of smoke and hot air, is simply not reliable enough to support the hospital." Seaver said. His Golden Parachute (courtesy of G&L) will be used in case of a ball-dropping event. "This is good for the community and, at the very least, provides me with a hasty retreat if things at the sphere go south," he said.
PaulineJuly 2 at 11:44 PM PT
Jeff, this was so beyond funny.
MorningstarrJuly 3 at 12:05 PM PT
Do you think I could get the shadow on my house? I could use the break from the heat!
WDFJuly 4 at 11:12 AM PT
I think this is wonderful. Henry Mayo could charge an additional fee to relocate the hospital on demand. They can have an auction process so that we could bid on shade or weather protection as needed. Also stadium lights could be mounted on the bottom, along with cameras and the hospital could also be used to cover sporting events such as High School football. This have the added benefit of providing athletes immediate access to emergency services. Also to avoid residents attempting to shoot it down during the construction phase, it could be built at a remote location and towed into place. My only true concern would be the Santa Ana winds. Let's say that I paid for shade coverage for a specific date, could the hospital guarantee that they would not be blown off station? Or how do we prevent another city from co-opting our hospital?