The new Stanford Hospital features seismic upgrades and the latest in tech.

If, heaven forbid, Menlo Park triathlete Man David Entwistle tumbles from his bicycle during a competition and suffers another traumatic brain injury (as he did 10 years ago), here’s where he wants to end up: the new $2 billion Stanford Hospital—and not just because he is the president and chief executive officer of Stanford Health Care. The 824,000-square-foot hospital, designed by Rafael Vinoly in association with Perkins Eastman, has been referred to, Entwistle says, as “the most technologically sophisticated in the world.” It was built because a 1994 state law requires hospitals by 2030 to be operable after an earthquake.

Rising in front of the existing hospital (to be renovated over time), the new building will connect to the old by bridge and tunnel, and has 368 new beds (for a total of 600 beds on-site), a new Level 1 trauma center and 20 operating rooms, among other amenities. There are also five gardens, walking trails, a meditation room and a 900-space parking garage. Tech touches include a pharmacy with automated dispensing, robots rolling down the halls bringing supplies to patients, and in-room iPads with which patients can pull up their records and order food in bed. “You can string together 10,000 HD devices,” Entwistle says, “and [the system] will never slow down.” The arrivals area contains a soaring atrium Entwistle likens to the Duomo in Florence, Italy. Terrazzo flooring, wood finishes, and a tan and green color scheme aim to soothe. “We spent an incredible amount of time picking out the pullout couches and tables that pull out as part of the bed to eat or play cards, humanizing that clinical nature that is inherent to hospitals,” he says.

September’s opening celebrations with donor dinners are chaired by Linda Meier, a former university trustee and current hospital board member known, insiders say, as the heart and soul of the hospital. When doors open to patients in October, the focus, says Entwistle, will be on the patient experience: “If they feel they were valued and respected in a great environment, that’s what this is really about.”