Kaiser Plans Hospital, Office Facility in Irvine
Kaiser Permanente, the nation’s largest health maintenance organization, announced Friday that it plans to build a 100-bed hospital and a five-story medical office building in the Irvine Spectrum business park.
The company, which has 180,000 subscribers in Orange County, said it plans to buy 42 acres from the Irvine Co. for the medical facilities. The purchase would be contingent upon Kaiser obtaining approval from the city.
It would be the first medical hospital to be built in the county since Irvine Medical Center opened in August, 1990, according to the Hospital Council of Southern California.
The project’s first stage includes building a $25-million medical office building, due to open in early 1995. The facility will be staffed by Kaiser physicians specializing in internal medicine, obstetrics-gynecology, podiatry and radiology, among other fields.
A second phase would include a six-story hospital and a parking garage. Kaiser did not provide a cost estimate.
The start date will depend on growth of the population and Kaiser membership, said Donna Donan-Drasner, a Kaiser spokeswoman.
The hospital will probably not open until at least five years after the medical office building is completed, she said.
Oakland-based Kaiser’s announcement comes as other hospitals--hurt by the recession and competition--are having trouble filling their rooms. On Monday, Saddleback Memorial Medical Center in Laguna Hills laid off 50 of its 1,100 employees, saying the sluggish economy was reducing its patient population.
Donan-Drasner said the planned hospital and office building are based on projected population growth in South County.
“Kaiser is not a speculative builder,” she said. “We build based on the demand of our membership.”
In the meantime, Kaiser has contracted with the 177-bed Irvine Medical Center--across the street from the proposed hospital site--to provide emergency care on a referral basis and limited inpatient care.
The Kaiser announcement ends rumors that the giant HMO would buy Irvine Medical Center, which has had trouble filling its beds because of competition from HMOs and other managed-care programs.
The Irvine Spectrum is a business park that is owned by the Irvine Co. and filled with high-technology, biomedical and other companies.
Kaiser’s long-range plans might include a hospital expansion, an administration building and a second medical office. Kaiser operates a medical center in Anaheim and contracts with the 240-bed Humana Hospital-West Anaheim.
