On a narrow street lined with excited community members snapping photos and craning their heads for a glimpse of the stage, Chinese Hospital unveiled its new Patient Tower on Monday with a grand opening and ribbon cutting celebration.

Local dignitaries including San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, former mayor Willie Brown and San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin gathered on Monday for Chinese Hospital’s grand opening, celebrating its long-standing heritage of care, located in the heart of the community it has served for generations.

“We have been here to provide healthcare for over 100 years,” Brenda Yee, CEO of Chinese Hospital, told the crowd. “And we will continue for another hundred years!”

The day’s festivities included a traditional Buddhist blessing, a Catholic blessing, lion dancing, a performance by Beach Blanket Babylon and public building tours led by DPR team members, subcontractors and Chinese Hospital volunteers. The ceremonies were fueled by palpable excitement from the community, many of whom gathered in their nearby shop windows or even traveled to San Francisco from other parts of the country specifically to witness the historic grand opening.

The last remaining independent institution of its kind in San Francisco, Chinese Hospital was truly built by the community and for the community. The most densely populated area west of Manhattan, San Francisco’s Chinatown provided a vibrant, bustling and logistically challenging setting for the DPR team since the project broke ground in 2012. Delivery timelines were scheduled around food trucks and neighborhood vendors, operating merely feet away from the new structure.

Along with sweeping views of the bay, from Coit Tower to the Transamerica Pyramid, the new Patient Tower features:

• 100,000-sq.-ft. over eight floors
• Expanded emergency treatment center
• Expanded cardiopulmonary unit & diagnostic imaging department
• 4 additional operating rooms
• 45 private acute care patient rooms
• 6 intensive care unit beds
• Skilled nursing unit with 23 beds
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) unit
• Expanded pharmacy

Demolished to make way for the new seismically sound acute-care facility, the original Chinese Hospital building opened its doors in 1925 and was the birthplace of martial artist and film star Bruce Lee. With the new Patient Tower, Chinese Hospital is positioned to continue to thrive – both supporting and supported by – the community it has always served.

Beach Blanket Babylon, another San Francisco classic, helps ring in the Chinese Hospital grand opening. (Photo credit: Osman Chao)

Former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown explains Chinese Hospital's importance to the community, as Chinese Hospital CEO Brenda Yee and San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee share a laugh. (Photo credit: Osman Chao)

Hospital officials and local politicians are surrounded by media and supporters as they cut the ribbon in front of Chinese Hospital's new Patient Tower. (Photo credit: Haley Hirai)

Chinese Hospital was blessed with both Buddhist and Catholic ceremonies. (Photo credit: Haley Hirai)

Following the ribbon cutting, the hospital opened up for public tours of the facility, including operating rooms like the one shown above. (Photo credit: Haley Hirai)

From many patient rooms, Chinese Hospital offers sweeping views of the San Francisco Bay, from Coit Tower to the Transamerica Pyramid. (Photo credit: Haley Hirai)