UC Regents to Consider Financing Plan for UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay

UC Regents this week will be asked to approve a financing plan that would clear the way for construction of UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay, which is depicted here as an architectural rendering by Anshen+Allen Architects showing an aerial view of Third Street.

Completing the project also advances UCSF’s excellence in the chancellor’s top three priority areas: patients and health, research and education.

UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay will:

• Accelerate translational medicine by spurring development of new diagnostic and treatment approaches for children, women and cancer patients


• Resolve capacity constraints at existing medical center facilities and allow for growth across the clinical enterprise


• Address some obsolete facilities and comply with state seismic-safety laws


• Build sustainable care facilities that would become an industry benchmark and


• Train the next generation of health care practitioners using new tools and technology in facilities that foster teaching and learning

The Regents have already approved actions on ten occasions since January 2005 to further the development of the UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay with a goal of starting construction by December 2010. Last month, the Regents approved the construction of a 621-space parking structure that will be completed early enough to provide parking for the hundreds of workers it will take to construct the facilities.

If all goes according to plan, UCSF officials hope to open the new medical center in 2014 – the year that marks the 150th anniversary of the founding of UCSF as Toland Medical College.

Significant Turning Point

Approval by the Regents on Thursday will represent a significant turning point in UCSF history as it seeks to realize its long-term vision for clinical and research programs by creating two major inpatient and outpatient care sites, integrated with basic and translational research, at Parnassus and Mission Bay. The long-term plan also calls for expanding Mount Zion as a major outpatient hub with a diagnostic and therapeutic focus, as well as women’s health services. The expansion at Mission Bay benefits all UCSF sites by creating vacated space that can be renovated to accommodate other space-constrained clinical services.

And in the short-term, an affirmative vote by the Regents will set the stage for a special groundbreaking celebration in October to thank the scores of people – employees, donors, community members and others – who have played a part in getting UCSF to this pivotal point.

UCSF Medical Center must build new hospital facilities to meet expected patient demand, comply with state seismic safety laws and upgrade buildings and equipment to accommodate advances in health care. UCSF Medical Center facilities are currently operating at capacity, and some are functionally obsolete and seismically compromised.

At full build out of the integrated hospital complex for women, children and cancer services and potential future phases, the Mission Bay medical center complex would include up to 1,787,000 gross square feet and 550-inpatient beds, outpatient facilities, including a cancer outpatient building, associated support space, and surface and structured parking.

Project Financing

The financing plan for the project calls for obtaining $700 million in external loans and garnering $600 million from philanthropic donations. So far, the campaign for UCSF Medical Center has secured commitments in excess of $322 million, including two gifts of $100 million or more – the only capital project in UC history to receive two nine-figure gifts. 

Due to the current state financial situation, the funding plan no longer includes state funds. However, UCSF Medical Center will pursue seismic-related state funds, if available, to pay back hospital reserves. 

UCSF has been able to reduce project costs by $205 million or 13 percent, excluding capitalized interest, with no change to the approved program scope. These reductions were achieved through a combination of savings due to the recession, innovations and value engineering.

Key to lowering the price tag and keeping costs in check is the use of an Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) model that is proving to successfully foster teamwork among the key players: UCSF, Cambridge Construction Management, Anshen+Allen Architects, multiple engineers, DPR Construction and several subcontractors. They are all working side-by-side in the Integrated Center for Design and Construction (ICDC) on the project site.

By using 3-D building information management software to “virtually” construction the entire complex, the ICDC team has improved design and future construction productivity, reduced risks and claims through full coordination among building systems and trades, and organized itself to achieve the ambitious cost reductions. 

Locating the children’s, women’s and cancer hospital complex near the booming biomedical teaching and research campus at UCSF Mission Bay will support UCSF’s drive to speed the translational medicine from laboratory discoveries into novel treatments for patients.

Related Links:

Building A Hospital Out Of Bits And Bricks
Forbes, September 9, 2010

New Mission Bay Medical Center Presents New Opportunities at UCSF

UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay