UCLA Medical Center preps for its biggest operation: moving day

The new Ronald Reagan Medical Center opens for business. The new operating room is shown in the picture, notice the big screen and new state of the art equipment. All patient rooms are private at well. The ER room will be open on Sunday as well. Health Care Relocations, the moving company hired for the job, has closed its three offices and brought all 30 employees to Los Angeles. BD

On Sunday, 2,100 doctors, nurses, technicians and managers at UCLA Medical Center will participate in a task of epic proportions: moving to the gleaming new hospital across the street. Although the distance is short, the details are daunting. The shift to the new Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center will require military-style precision. Using 30 ambulances and 80 gurneys, three teams of professionals will transfer 350 patients -- many of them hooked up to monitors and respirators -- at the rate of one every two minutes.