Kaiser Medical Center Started in Riverside

Ground has been broken for a $51-million, 400-bed Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in the La Sierra section of Riverside.

Designed by Langdon Wilson Mumper Architects of Los Angeles, the facility will be built by Dillingham Construction of Los Angeles in two phases.

Scheduled for completion in the late 1980s, Phase 1 will include a 200-bed hospital, offices and examination rooms, a complete pharmacy, and X-ray and laboratory rooms. No timetable has been established yet for the second phase, which will include 200 additional beds and more outpatient offices.

During a ground-breaking ceremony, Kaiser’s Fontana Hospital Administrator Bruce Behnke presented a check for $4,248 to Alvord Unified School District Superintendent Norman Guith for district purchase of hearing and vision testing equipment. The check was given in an effort to continue Kaiser’s efforts to be what Behnke termed “a good neighbor to the communities we serve.”