Story updated at 4:22 p.m. Aug. 21:

St. John’s Regional Medical Center announced Aug. 21 a major expansion and modernization project that it said will create a hospital of the future in Oxnard as it strives to compete with other medical facilities in Ventura County.

“These new additions to our hospital further support our mission to provide high-quality health care services to all,” said Darren Lee, president and CEO of St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard and St. John’s Pleasant Valley Hospital in Camarillo, in a news release. “The modernization and expansion project contributes significant benefits to Ventura, Oxnard and Camarillo.”

The two-year project, which is expected to be completed by April 2019 at an estimated cost of $20 million, includes an emergency department overhaul, patient access additions, labor and delivery program modernization, an expansion of the neonatal intensive care unit, new advanced diagnostic imaging technology, a new neuroscience center and a new center for cardiovascular health.

The estimated cost of the project was not disclosed.

The announcement came as Ventura County Medical Center opened its new North Tower and as Community Memorial and Kaiser Permanente have major new projects nearing completion. St. John’s already has committed to a new $70 million building for its Pleasant Valley Hospital in Camarillo.

St. John Regional Medical Center is a part of Dignity Health Central Coast, an integrated network of hospitals including Marian Regional Medical Center in Santa Maria, Arroyo Grande Hospital, French Hospital in San Luis Obispo and Pleasant Valley.

• Contact Robert Shutt at rshutt@pacbiztimes.com.