Hospital Site Bought: Saddleback Memorial Medical Center,...

Hospital Site Bought: Saddleback Memorial Medical Center, a nonprofit hospital in Laguna Hills, said Friday that it has acquired an option to buy a 3-acre property in the Foothill Ranch development in South County as a possible site for a new hospital. Saddleback Memorial, a subsidiary of Long Beach-based Memorial Health Services Corp., proposed to build a facility of 80 to 100 beds on the property, as well as a medical office building and outpatient diagnostic clinic. The property is owned by the Foothill Ranch Co. Saddleback Memorial will not decide whether to build the facility until 1993 or 1994, said Jerry Koppang, hospital vice president. He said that decision will depend on population growth in Rancho Santa Margarita, northeast of Mission Viejo near Trabuco Canyon. The facility would be called Foothill Memorial Medical Center, Koppang said.