[BTinSF]

Thursday, September 18, 2008 - 1:39 PM PDT | Modified: Thursday, September 18, 2008 - 2:36 PM
UC Regents approve plan for new $1.7B UCSF Mission Bay hospital complex
San Francisco Business Times - by Chris Rauber

As expected, the University of California Regents have approved the design, budget and other key elements of UC San Francisco’s nearly $1.7 billion new hospital campus at Mission Bay, UCSF announced Thursday.

UCSF officials said the project, which has a first-phase $1.686 billion budget, will be one of the largest building projects in the western United States. The Regents unanimously approved the hospital complex’s budget, design and environmental certification, according to UCSF, which hopes to build a 289-bed women’s, children’s and cancer specialty hospital at Mission Bay by early 2014.

The new facility, squeezed into a 14.5-acre parcel, will be located adjacent to UCSF’s 43-acre biomedical research campus, south of downtown San Francisco near AT&T Park.

The first phase of the project includes construction of the hospital complex itself, along with a parking lot. When more money is available, UCSF would begin the next phase, which would include a cancer outpatient building, a 580-car parking structure and faculty office space. After that, at least a decade or more from now, UCSF might add 261 more inpatient beds, expanded outpatient services and more parking.

UCSF said its goal is to integrate patient care with research, strengthening both “bench to bedside” and “bedside to bench” collaboration among UCSF basic scientists, clinical researchers and physicians. The new facility will also allow UCSF to meet state seismic safety regulations and alleviate space shortages at its Parnassus Heights and Mt. Zion campuses.

Mark Laret, CEO of UCSF Medical Center, predicted the resulting complex at Mission Bay will be “an epicenter” of international scope, combining the best in clinical care with the best in health science research.

The Regents approved the Mission Bay hospital plan as an agenda item at their regular business meeting this week, held on the UC Irvine campus, officials said. The Regents’ committees on grounds and buildings and finance voted in favor of the project Sept. 17, followed by an approval by the full board Thursday, Sept. 18.

That OK was the last major hurdle before UCSF submits structural plans to the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development in December. Construction on the complex, which has been in the planning stages since 2002, would begin in 2009 after it receives state approval, with the facility slated to open by early 2014, UCSF said.

If all goes according to plan, the new facility will be the first hospital built from the ground up in San Francisco in 30 years.

The giant project will be funded by a mixture of philanthropic contributions, hospital reserves, debt financing and state support. San Francisco philanthropist Dede Wilsey is voluntary chairwoman of a campaign to raise $600 million in private donations. The campaign’s planning team includes business and civic leaders Barbara Bass Bakar, Ronald Conway, Carmen Policy and Richard Rosenberg.

crauber@bizjournals.com / (415) 288-4946

Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfranci...ml?t=printable