Mission Bay Plan Moves Forward; UCSF Considers Options at Mount Zion to Meet State Seismic Safety La

Mark Laret

The stage has been set for a new era of the UCSF clinical enterprise with the recent approval by the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency of UCSF's acquisition of about 10 acres south of the Mission Bay campus. After the land lease is completed early next year and an adjacent four acres at Mission Bay are acquired in the next few years, UCSF will have a site for the future development of a new hospital and clinics to integrate with the basic and clinical research already underway at the Mission Bay campus. Mark Laret, chief executive officer of UCSF Medical Center, is preparing to present plans to begin development at Mission Bay, as well as plans for upgrading the Mount Zion campus and addressing the seismic challenges facing the Mount Zion hospital, to UC Regents in January. Due to the large financial requirements of building a specialty hospital at Mission Bay, the University is considering seismically upgrading facilities at Mount Zion as part of its ongoing efforts to continue investing at the campus. This move would enable the University to ensure that Mount Zion meets the looming state deadline for making all hospitals seismically safe by 2013. At the same time, the University would remain focused on building a specialty hospital at Mission Bay. "While we move forward with these ambitious construction plans, we will continue our major investments in upgrading equipment and facilities at Parnassus and Mount Zion, and in completing the implementation of our electronic medical record system," Laret said. "Most important of all, we must continue to make improvements in compensation and work lifestyle for our employees." Laret and David Kessler, dean of UCSF School of Medicine and vice chancellor of medical affairs, emphasized that building clinical facilities at the Mission Bay campus is critical to the University's long-term goals. "We continue to have a bold vision for Mission Bay and we are aggressively continuing to plan for its future," they said. Skyrocketing Construction Costs UCSF officials always knew that the costs of building a new hospital - designed and equipped with the latest technological advances for health care delivery - would be enormous and that financing construction would depend on a successful fund-raising campaign. But since the planning process to define the programs for an integrated hospital - to include children's, women's and cancer services -- at Mission Bay began in earnest earlier this year, several changes have occurred. UCSF is facing unprecedented construction cost estimates due to a multitude of competing construction projects in California and unfavorable market conditions, such as the high price of steel. These costs are rising even higher as the Gulf Coast region undergoes massive reconstruction after the damage from hurricanes. "The bottom line is that our plan to build a children's, women's and cancer hospital cannot be achieved in time to relieve our 2013 seismic deadline at Mount Zion," Laret and Kessler said. "The situation, similar to that faced by many of our colleagues, has resulted in a need to take action that will allow us to stay in business, meet the 2013 seismic deadline, meet our short-term operational needs and -- most importantly -- keep us on track with our long-term vision for Mission Bay." Planning on Two Fronts Campus officials hope to proceed on two simultaneous tracks, Laret explained. First, to meet the seismic safety requirements at Mount Zion and to serve the medical center's expanding base of cancer patients, UCSF is considering either constructing a new building or retrofitting existing hospital buildings at Mount Zion while possibly adding operating rooms, hospital beds and support services. "This could be extremely positive for the clinical services at Mount Zion, which continue to grow," Laret said. If UCSF decides to construct a new building at Mount Zion, some practices and offices would be moved from Mount Zion to another location. UCSF officials are considering alternatives where they might lease space. Simultaneously, UCSF would continue planning for the children's hospital to take the lead in adding clinical services at Mission Bay. The goal is to commence construction after the University has solidified funding for the new hospital. Long-term plans remain for adding cancer services and women's health as part of an integrated hospital at Mission Bay. "Moving our internationally renowned UCSF Children's Hospital to its own site would increase its visibility and provide sorely needed space for the remaining services at Parnassus to grow," Laret said. Both the Mount Zion and Mission Bay plans rely on the medical center's continued strong financial performance to enable UCSF to borrow money to finance these projects. Some Mount Zion options will require significant philanthropic support and the children's hospital will require significant philanthropic support as well. UCSF officials are optimistic that this can be accomplished. Laret noted that these plans are subject to change as campus officials meet with the UCSF Academic Senate, UC Office of the President staff and the community and the campus conducts engineering and financial feasibility studies. Source: Lisa Cisneros