[BTinSF]

UCSF gets OK from UC Regents to raise $500M for Mission Bay campus
San Francisco Business Times - 2:55 PM PDT Thursday, May 17, 2007
by Chris Rauber

The University of California Board of Regents gave UCSF Medical Center the go-ahead to raise $500 million or more to build a $1.3 billion, 289-bed UCSF Medical Center facility at Mission Bay.

The decision, expected by CEO Mark Laret and other UCSF Medical Center officials, means it can move ahead with plans to build a women's, children's and cancer hospital at Mission Bay by 2014, the projected first phase of a larger hospital campus there.

The planned facility will be located on a 14.5-acre parcel just south of UCSF's 43-acre life sciences campus at Mission Bay.

"There will be room to expand" at the site, said UCSF spokeswoman Carol Hyman, possibly including expansion of the cancer center or transferring other clinical operations from UCSF Medical Center's main Parnassus Heights campus at a later date.

UCSF simply ran out of space at its existing Parnassus Heights and Mt. Zion campuses, and also needs to meet state seismic safety requirements. The new Mission Bay hospital complex will help it meet both needs, officials say.

But financial support from the state of California is expected to be limited, so the UC Regents' vote gave UCSF the authority to move ahead with a massive fund-raising campaign that aims to raise at least $500 million. Other funding will come primarily from loans or other forms of debt, Hyman said.

On completion of the first phase, the approximately 865,000-square-foot hospital complex will include:

A 183-bed children's hospital, along with pediatric primary and specialty outpatient facilities.
A 36-bed women's hospital and some women's outpatient services.
A 70-bed cancer hospital.
A central utility plant, underground tunnel, bridge, helipad and parking facilities.

Officials said the new UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay will provide "a world-class" healing environment, complete with comprehensive diagnostic, clinical and support services, including use advanced robotic and imaging technology. "It's a momentous time for UCSF," Mark Laret, the medical center's CEO, said in the May 17 statement.

The fund-raising effort, conducted jointly by UCSF and the UCSF Foundation, is led by Senior Vice Chancellor Bruce Spaulding and Associate Vice Chancellor James Asp. Diane "Dede" B. Wilsey, a civic leader and philanthropist with a history of leading major campaigns, is the voluntary chair of the UCSF effort, which hopes to raise $500 million or more. Wilsey will be joined by a host of leading business and community leaders in planning the campaign, UCSF said Thursday. They include:

Barbara Bass Bakar, former president and CEO of Emporium/Weinstock's and former chair and CEO of I. Magnin, San Francisco.
Ronald Conway, founder and general partner of VC firm Angel Investors LP.
William H. Davidow, founding partner of Mohr Davidow Ventures.
Robert Lesko, executive director of private wealth management at Morgan Stanley.
Carmen Policy, former president and CEO of the San Francisco 49ers.
Richard M. Rosenberg, retired chair and CEO of Bank of America Corp. and Bank of America NT&SA.

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