12 September 2018 | Bakersfield, California, a city that already has the 250+ bed Adventist Health Bakersfield hospital, is about to get a second Adventist Health facility.

According to Bakersfield.com, the new facility will be built in the northwestern area of town and will be smaller. It will be located next to a mixed-use development (residential, recreational, etc.) that is currently being built. Early stage planning is currently under way for the facility with construction slated to start in 2021 and completion envisioned for 2024.

Sharlet Briggs, president/CEO of Adventist Health Bakersfield said that the new facility was planned because demand was outpacing capacity at the current hospital.

“We keep looking at how can we better serve the community so that next patient who walks into the hospital has a bed ready for them,” said Briggs. “This has been on our radar for a long time, and now we’ve gotten approval to move forward.”

Briggs said that new employee hires would be made for the hospital but she did not know how many hires would be required yet.

“At Adventist Health, we’re known for our quality,” she said. “As we look at opening a new site, we take that with us there. We look at how do we take the best, safest care available to our citizens of Bakersfield and Kern County? That’s our responsibility.”

Adventist Health is a faith-based, nonprofit network of hospitals, clinics, home care agencies, hospice agencies and joint-venture retirement centers in both rural and urban communities serving more than 80 communities across the Western United States and Hawaii. The healthcare system is affiliated with the Adventist Church.

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