Hoag Orthopedic Institute (HOI) Ambulatory Surgery Center

A Patient-Friendly Outpatient Surgery Center Renovation

Hoag Orthopedic Institute’s (HOI) ambulatory surgery center combines safe and efficient outpatient care with a design focused on enhancing the patient experience. The new 10,134 SF renovation of the entire first floor of an existing medical office building will expand HOI’s presence in Orange County to provide services within the growing community of Aliso Viejo.

The surgery center was designed for resiliency, accessibility, and comfort. HOI wanted the outpatient center to embody a “natural flow” for patients and staff while also providing for an efficient lay-out for the transport, sterilization, and storage of medical equipment. Achieving such flow around the existing building core space presented LPA with a unique design challenge due to an existing main lobby and structural constraints.

The center’s interior is laid out using a continuous corridor that bisects staff work areas and storage rooms, and transitions into a loop that circulates counterclockwise around the central core. This path touches on all critical spaces within the facility, including the four operating rooms, supply rooms, and the sterile processing room. The corridor is arranged to safely separate staff functions, avoid cross-contamination, and guarantee ease of flow. A total of thirteen pre- and post-op bays, including two private recovery rooms, line the facility’s eastern perimeter, all of which benefit from natural daylight.

The patient experience is enhanced with the introduction of a modern and minimalist palette that features natural wood and earth tones. A bright and airy lobby greets incoming patients, highlighted by a sculptural lighting installation suspended overhead. For outgoing patients, a new dedicated and accessible discharge exit is located along the building’s opposite side.

On the exterior, the existing medical office building’s masonry cladding was refreshed, and the surrounding landscape program was redesigned with native, drought-resistant plantings.

Resiliency was further prioritized with the introduction of an emergency generator that ensures continuous operations during a power outage. The equipment is housed in a specially designed structure that both complements HOI’s new-look facility and helps keep the generator’s decibel level to a minimum – a critical consideration given the center’s proximity to a nearby daycare center and mixed-use residential neighborhood.