Kitchell Breaks Ground on UC San Diego Jacobs Medical Center

LA JOLLA, Calif. — Kitchell recently broke ground on the UC San Diego Jacobs Medical Center, a 500,000-square-foot medical center featuring three new specialty hospitals dedicated to cancer, advanced surgery and women and infants.

The center will provide a state-of-the-art environment for the most innovative, patient-focused care available. It is named in honor of the Joan and Irwin Jacobs family, who provided a $75-million pledge to see the medical center come to fruition.

“It’s gratifying to continue our healthcare building legacy in San Diego County with such a landmark project,” said Kitchell President Dan Pierce.

The method of managing the project via modified integrated project delivery includes a board of directors that oversees design and construction progress with six distinct teams reporting to it. The project is comprised of a 495,000-square-foot, 246-bed addition and a 40,000-square-foot central utility plant addition along with 70,000-square-feet of renovations to the existing space.

Once completed, the new 10-story (eight above and two below ground) medical center will include a comprehensive list of services including: women and infant program, NICU/post partum unit, medical/surgical/bariatric facilities, cancer center, labs, pharmacy and an imaging department. It will also house an intra-operative MRI and CT, the first in the nation.

Kitchell, along with Cannon Design the project architect, designed a full-scale operating room mock-up made entirely out of foam to accurately map out hospital’s finished look and feel, saving millions in design costs during the three-year pre-construction period. The mock-up has become a work/meeting space used by the hospital staff, foundation staff and construction and design team.

Construction is slated to be complete June 2016.