The $180-million, 90-bed new wing at Los Robles Hospital and Medical Center is now open and completely full.

The wing was expected to open in the spring but was delayed by the state Department of Health because of late ratification of the state budget. Then there was confusion over whether the 90 beds in the new wing were actually 90 additional beds, hospital CEO Jim Sherman said.

Once everyone understood the 70 beds in the original hospital tower were not going to be occupied, the red tape was cut and the hospital's new wing opened, said Kris Carraway-Bowman, hospital spokesperson.

That means a total of 20 beds were added when the new wing opened on Oct. 29.

"It is completely full, like everyone was waiting to come in," Sherman said.

With the increase of respiratory illnesses and flu, winter is consistently the hospital's busiest season- a good time to be open and ready for the community to use, he said.

Now that the 200,000squarefoot hospital addition is completed, remodeling will begin on the original building that houses the 70 beds that are not currently being used. Those semiprivate rooms will become 39 private rooms like the 90 in the new wing. The hospital also plans to expand its neonatal area.

Work on the original building will begin at the end of this month and should take about eight months to complete, Sherman said.

- Nancy Needham