Celebrating the grand opening of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles — South Bay are: (l-r) Robert Adler, MD, MSEd; Cathy Siegel Weiss, Co-chair, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Board of Trustees; Pediatric Urologist Paul Kokorowski, MD, of Manhattan Beach; and Richard D. Cordova, FACHE, president and CEO of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

Presented with tributes of recognition and gratitude from South Bay civic leaders, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles recently celebrated the grand opening of its new outpatient center in Torrance with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by more than 50 hospital officials, community leaders and special guests.

“This particular business is very special to us,” Torrance Mayor Frank Scotto told the crowd. “(Children’s Hospital) chose Torrance to open their outpatient center and they’re bringing jobs to the community, but they’re also offering (pediatric) services to our residents.”

Torrance Area Chamber of Commerce Chair-elect Sherry Kramer welcomed Children’s Hospital Los Angeles to the community and pledged that the chamber would work with the hospital to promote and build its outpatient center in the South Bay. “Today is a special day for me because my son turned 20; I just wish Children’s Hospital Los Angeles had been here 20 years ago,” she said. “We will promote you and help you build your business as best we can.”

The hospital was presented with proclamations of recognition from the City of Torrance, the Torrance Area Chamber of Commerce and from the offices of Assembly member Al Muratsuchi and State Senators Ted W. Lieu and Rod Wright.

Joining the South Bay dignitaries were Children’s Hospital physicians and members of the hospital’s leadership. “We appreciate the warm welcome and the opportunity to grow and be of service to this community,” said Richard D. Cordova, FACHE, president and CEO of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. “Each year, about 6,000 inpatients and outpatients from the South Bay come to our main hospital campus at the corner of Sunset and Vermont, totaling about 36,000 visits in 2011; it makes a lot of sense for us to locate in this community.”

Children’s Hospital Los Angeles – South Bay is staffed by 14 physicians with expertise in 10 pediatric specialties: cardiology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, neurology, ophthalmology, orthopaedics, otolaryngology (ENT), plastic surgery, pulmonology and urology. “The outpatient center is not in competition with local primary care physicians,” Cordova says. “The hospital collaborated with local pediatricians to identify the type of pediatric specialists needed by South Bay patients and their families.”

U.S. News & World Report recently ranked Children’s Hospital Los Angeles as the fifth best children’s hospital in the nation and the top pediatric facility on the West Coast, said Robert Adler, MD, MSEd, senior vice chair of the hospital’s Department of Pediatrics and chief medical director of the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Health System. “U.S. News has ranked 52 of our physicians at the top of their fields and 27 of those are among the top 1 percent in the country in their specialty, identifying them as the physicians you need to go to if you have a specific problem,” he said. “We look forward to working with the community to enhance the healthcare of all the children from the South Bay.”

On behalf of the hospital’s Board of Trustees, Board Co-chair Cathy Siegel Weiss thanked the community for allowing the hospital to bring its special brand of care closer to children and families in the South Bay. “The center has already been open a few weeks and the response has been fantastic,” she said. “Patients and families are taking advantage of the hospital’s pediatric specialists and the wide range of outpatient services we offer.”

Preceded by the hospital’s outpatient centers in Arcadia and Valencia, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles – South Bay is the third ambulatory care facility opened by Children’s Hospital since 2010. Earlier this year, the hospital also joined forces with Providence Tarzana Medical Center to jointly operate Providence Tarzana’s pediatric and pediatric intensive care units, where patients now have access to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles pediatric specialty services.

“Children’s Hospital physicians have great relationships with many South Bay community pediatricians, who are pleased that their patients will now have convenient access to the hospital’s pediatric specialists,” says Paul Kokorowski, MD, of Manhattan Beach, a pediatric urologist who has office hours at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles – South Bay.

Children’s Hospital – South Bay Outpatient Center is conveniently located at 3440 Torrance Blvd., Ste. 100, Torrance, CA 90503, just a block from the Del Amo Fashion Center. It is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. The site is staffed by Board-Certified and Board-Eligible pediatric clinicians. Staff will also provide walk-in X-Ray services. Appointments can be made at 310-303-3890. For additional information go to CHLA.org/SouthBay.

About Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

Children’s Hospital Los Angeles has been named the best children’s hospital in California and among the top five in the nation for clinical excellence with its selection to the prestigious U.S. News & World Report Honor Roll. Children’s Hospital is home to The Saban Research Institute, one of the largest and most productive pediatric research facilities in the United States. Children’s Hospital is also one of America’s premier teaching hospitals through its affiliation since 1932 with the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California.

For more information, visit CHLA.org.