AHTV to showcase new hospital during open house, Oct. 28

Community members will get their first opportunity Sunday to see the long-awaited Adventist Health Tehachapi Valley Medical Center located at 1100 Magellan Drive in Tehachapi, during a day of public tours starting at noon on Sunday, Oct. 28.

The state-of-the-art, critical access hospital has a target opening date in November and will replace the current medical center located in downtown Tehachapi built in 1954.

The new hospital will include a 13-room emergency department equipped with trauma, fast track and triage rooms; an Intensive Care Unit for a higher level of care, not currently offered in Tehachapi; digital imaging; and for the first time in decades, a surgery department so residents can get quality care close to home.

"This new hospital will change the health care landscape of Tehachapi for the future," Adventist Health Tehachapi Valley President Jeff Lingerfelt said. "This has been a long time coming for our community, and we're excited to introduce them to their new hospital Sunday."

The hospital's scheduled opening culminates years of anticipation from Tehachapi community members, who voted to pass a $50 million bond in 2009 to finance the construction of the medical center – then operated by the Tehachapi Valley Healthcare District. In a landslide, almost 90 percent of district voters opted in June 2016 to allow Adventist Health to assume operations of the hospital under a long-term lease and complete construction of the facility.