NEWPORT BEACH : Hoag Hospital Plans to Double Its Size

Hoag Hospital officials met with local residents this week to present a general outline of a plan that would double the size of the hospital over the next two decades.

The discussion took place before a regular meeting of the West Newport Beach Assn., an umbrella group for area homeowners’ associations.

The expansion, which has not yet come before the city’s Planning Commission, would stretch along West Coast Highway between Newport Boulevard and Superior Avenue. Residents say the density of the project is likely to become a source of controversy. “What we’re concerned about is the massive development of the project,” said Bill Jennings, a member of the ad hoc committee now being formed by the association to study expansion issues. “There are going to be some battles, I think.”

According to Peter Foulke, senior vice president of the hospital, the expansion has been discussed with city officials for more than a year. Rather than applying for a conditional-use permit as in the past, the hospital is creating a “planned community” concept that would require an amendment to the city’s General Plan, Foulke said. Within the approved framework, the expansion could then unfold over the next 20 years.

Hoag, which officials say treated 127,000 patients last year and has the third highest bed capacity of any Orange County hospital, is now building a 65,000-square-foot cancer center that is expected to open in June. A child-care center for children of employees has also already received city approval.

The latest expansion plans would increase the hospital’s general capacity and would add needed emergency rooms and intensive care beds, Foulke said. However, he stressed that the plans are still sketchy.

“It’s by no means final,” he said. “The documents are just being drawn up. We have something we can work with now.”

Foulke said hospital officials have met several times in the last four months with homeowners in the area. Both Foulke and Jennings say they are hoping for more community input on the project.

“There’s going to be a lot of traffic, a lot of dirt and a lot of noise,” Jennings said. “It’s going to be a major impact on the city.” Foulke said the expansion will come before the Planning Commission in the spring.