Ventura, CA - Community Memorial Hospital and Ojai Valley Community Hospital, the foundation facilities of the Community Memorial Health System, received top recognition in the Ventura County Star’s 2014 Readers’ Choice Winners & Favorites awards.

Community Memorial Hospital was the West County winner in the Hospital category, while Ojai Valley Community Hospital earned West County favorite designation. The newspaper’s balloting was conducted online over a three-week period in January and February. The Star issued its Readers’ Choice in its May 4 edition.

“CMHS’s administration, board of trustees, medical staff and employees are deeply committed to providing the highest quality healthcare to our friends and neighbors throughout Ventura County,” said CMHS President and CEO Gary Wilde.

Wilde added that superb medical facilities play an important role in a community’s quality of life, “ranking alongside other factors, such as housing, employment opportunities, effective education and cultural and social life. We are honored to be a cornerstone of this community, having provided more than a century of noble service.”

CMH and OVCH earned the recognition while in the midst of big changes for both medical facilities.

A new six-story, 325,000-square-foot hospital is being built next to the current 242-bed CMH, and is scheduled to open in 2015. It will have 250 private rooms, comfortable space for families and a healing garden on the grounds.

The new CMH, which meets seismic demands, also will have a larger Emergency Room and greater imaging capability than the present hospital. It also will have additional Heart Catheterization labs, expanded Intensive Care and Cardiac Care Recovery Units and a larger Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. The hospital’s 10 surgical theaters will have leading-edge medical technology.

The 103-bed OVCH, meanwhile, is undergoing an extensive modernization project that includes construction of a new entry in the Spanish Colonial Revival style that better integrates the look of the facility within the Ojai Valley environment. It also includes plans to build a new 60-bed Continuing Care Center (skilled nursing facility) to replace the existing CCC facility.

Community Memorial Health System is a not-for-profit health system, which is comprised of Community Memorial Hospital, Ojai Valley Community Hospital, and 11 family-practice health centers entitled Centers for Family Health. The health system is located in Ventura County, California.