Crews Break Ground On Shriners Hospital For Children In Pasadena

PASADENA (CBSLA.com) — Southland lawmakers, business executives and patients were on hand Wednesday for a groundbreaking ceremony on a $77 million, state-of-the-art medical center in Pasadena.

Officials with Shriners Hospitals for Children say they hope to have the new location open at 909 Fair Oaks Ave. in order to "better serve the pediatric specialty care needs" of residents of the greater San Gabriel Valley.

For more than six decades, Shriners Hospitals have offered specialty hospital services for orthopaedic conditions, prosthetics and orthotics, hand disorders, burn scars, and cleft lip and palate to children under 18 regardless of the families' ability to pay.

"The building we're in now was built in 1952, and it no longer meets earthquake standards, and we can build this new facility for what it would have cost to retrofit the other," Shriners' David Doan said.

No child will be turned away if they are unable to pay.

"It is absolutely vital to me that I personally don't have to worry about whether I get paid or not for a procedure, and what that means for every family that comes in, is that I get to make the choice that I truly think is the best for that family," orthopedic surgeon Kate Doughty said.

The new location, which will be complete with kids' play areas, is expected to open in 2017.