Kaiser board approves $200M Vacaville hospital

by Chris Rauber

Kaiser Permanente said Tuesday that it has received approval from its board of directors to fund a large new medical center in Vacaville.

Based on industry estimates, the new facility is likely to cost at least $200 million and possibly as much as $250 million or more.

Officials at Oakland-based Kaiser said groundbreaking of the planned 166-bed medical center is slated for 2005, depending on required planning and regulatory approvals from local and state agencies.

The new 340,000-square-foot acute-care facility is expected to open in 2009, and is part of a multi-billion-dollar series of Kaiser hospital construction and expansion projects statewide.

Kaiser operates an existing 168,000-square-foot medical office building and clinic housing about 90 doctors on the Vacaville site, which will be augmented by the new hospital structure. An ER, eight new labor and delivery rooms, a new medical office building, expanded pharmacy and lab services and parking for 2,300 cars will also be added.

Kaiser has more than 240,000 enrollees in Napa and Solano counties and is expecting significant growth in the region. Deborah Romer, Kaiser's senior vice president and area manager, called it "one of the fastest growing areas in Northern California."

Including additional expansion projects, the entire Vacaville facility will total 750,000 square feet of space when completed, officials said.

"We've recognized the need to expand our services to provide an even more comprehensive, full-service medical center in this area," including Vacaville, Fairfield, Dixon, Davis and other fast-growing areas in the vicinity, Romer said.

© 2004 American City Business Journals Inc.