Senator Toni Atkins Visits Hospital to Recognize Plans for New Hillcrest Campus

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Senate President Pro Tempore Toni Atkins visited UC San Diego Medical Center today to recognize a $30 million allocation in the 2021-2022 California state budget that will support the redevelopment of the new Hillcrest hospital. 

“Rebuilding UC San Diego Medical Center in Hillcrest is essential to continuing comprehensive hospital care and expanding vital outpatient services for San Diegans,” said UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla. “UC San Diego is upgrading the Hillcrest site with modern, sustainable and efficient medical facilities that are easier to access, offer more services and are better integrated into the surrounding neighborhood. It will become a premier destination for patients in our region.”

The only academic medical center in the San Diego region, UC San Diego Health maintains a two-campus strategy, combining research, teaching and clinical care at its Hillcrest and La Jolla locations. UC San Diego has had a presence in Hillcrest since 1966 when the university began operating the former county hospital.

“We are so grateful to Senator Atkins for the generous allocation that will not only go towards the planning, design, site development and construction of the project, but will also help us expand and enhance our academic health system, where teaching, research and patient care merge,” said Patty Maysent, CEO, UC San Diego Health.

Covering approximately 60 acres, the Hillcrest Campus is located 13 miles south of the UC San Diego Health La Jolla Campus. It is a critical regional resource, housing a Level 1 Trauma Center, Regional Burn Center and Comprehensive Stroke Center. The 390-bed Hillcrest hospital serves all San Diego and Imperial County residents, along with parts of Riverside County.

“When COVID-19 swept through our nation, it opened our eyes in ways we never could have imagined. In particular, it underscored how critical it is that everyone has access to quality health care,” said Senate President pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins. “State-of-the-art facilities and impeccably trained health care workers are key components of making that a reality. With these budget funds, UC San Diego Health’s Hillcrest campus will be able to elevate the already exceptional care and medical education provided to the region and take it to the next level.”

The project is necessary to comply with seismic safety provisions of the California Hospital Code; and provides the opportunity to design and build modern, sustainable and efficient medical facilities that will create a more resilient campus better incorporated within the community.

The transformation of the hospital campus in Hillcrest is part of a long-range development plan that will also include a 250,000-square-foot outpatient pavilion with specialty clinical programs, such as oncology, cardiology, neurosurgery and orthopedics, as well as ambulatory surgery operating rooms, gastroenterology procedure rooms, advanced imaging, infusion and radiation oncology.

The new hospital will be the cornerstone of a redevelopment project that will also feature a wellness center for campus and community and up to 1,000 units of workforce housing. 

Construction for the project is anticipated to start in the fall of 2021 and continue over approximately 15 years in five major phases, implemented to reduce impact on the surrounding community while ensuring current, critical campus functions remain operational.

For more information about the UC San Diego Hillcrest campus redevelopment project, including information on future virtual information sessions, please visit: https://plandesignbuild.ucsd.edu/projects/current.html#Hillcrest-Outpatient-Pavilion-a 

UC San Diego Health is comprised of UC San Diego Medical Center in Hillcrest and Jacobs Medical Center, Cardiovascular Institute, Moores Cancer Center, Shiley Eye Institute and the Altman Clinical and Translational Research Institute, all in La Jolla, as well as primary care and same-day services at clinics throughout Southern California. UC San Diego Health Medical Center is home to the area’s only Regional Burn Center and one of only two Level I trauma centers in the county.