Santa Maria’s Marian Regional Medical Center opened the doors of its brand-new facility for a public viewing and dedication on March 7, a month before the building is set to start taking patients.

The grand opening comes 15 years after hospital officials began planning to rebuild Marian, a nonprofit hospital founded in 1940 by the Sisters of Saint Francis. Ground broke on the $218 million, 235,000-square-foot building in October 2008.

“At the groundbreaking ceremony in 2008, I remember hearing that the new hospital would open in four years,” Mark Juretic, Marian’s chief of staff, said at the dedication ceremony. “I thought there was no way this would openby 2012. I was wrong.”

The new Marian, a member of Dignity Health (formerly Catholic Healthcare West), is double the size of the old facility. Lloyd Dean, the CEO of Dignity Health, said the size of the hospital reflects the growth of Santa Maria over the last half-century.

The community of Santa Maria raised $17 million towards Marian’s construction. “The people of Santa Maria have really helped this hospital become what it is today,” Dean said at the ceremony, which was attended by hundreds of people.

Though the new building was originally set to open on March 27, Marian president Chuck Cova said the Central Coast’s newest hospital will now open in mid-April.
Members of the public took tours after the dedication ceremony, and the hospital is offering additional tours on Saturday, March 10 between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. and on Sunday, March 11 between 12 p.m. and 3 p.m.