‘Next Generation’ $1.5B Hospital Complex Opens at UCSF Medical Center’s Mission Bay Campus

After more than 10 years of planning and construction, UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay will open Feb. 1 on UC San Francisco, California’s biomedical research campus. UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay comprises UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital San Francisco, UCSF Betty Irene Moore Women’s Hospital and UCSF Bakar Cancer Hospital. The new facilities include a 289-bed hospital complex, with children’s emergency and outpatient services that will integrate research and medical advancements with patient-focused, compassionate care.

The new medical center, located on UCSF’s 60.2-acre Mission Bay research campus, will enhance UCSF’s ecosystem of innovation by putting physicians in close proximity to researchers and near biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies in Mission Bay and beyond. The new cancer hospital, for example, will sit near the UCSF Helen Diller Family Cancer Research Building, where every day leading scientists are seeking causes and cures for cancer.

UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay also will feature the only operating hospital helipad in San Francisco to transport critically ill babies, children and pregnant women to the medical center from outlying hospitals.

“UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay profoundly advances our ability to fulfill our mission as a public hospital, providing high-quality healthcare that meets the future needs of the entire Bay Area,” said Mark R. Laret, CEO, UCSF Medical Center and UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals. “By embedding clinical care within our research enterprise at Mission Bay, UCSF physicians and scientists in the forefront of cancer medicine, and women’s and children’s health will be able to more readily translate discoveries into next-generation therapies and cures.”

Each of the new hospitals’ designs reflects significant input from patients and families, as well as clinicians.

“UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay sets a national benchmark for patient- and family-centered healthcare by offering an unparalleled healing environment that supports and connects patients and their families during hospital stays,” said Cindy Lima, executive director, UCSF Mission Bay Hospitals project. “These new hospitals expand our capacity to provide the most advanced treatments in buildings that reflect input from the people who will use them.”

The hospitals feature state-of-the art technology, including the world’s largest hospital fleet of autonomous robotic couriers, which will deliver linens, meals and medications. Interactive media walls in each private room will enable patients to communicate with their families and clinicians, and an imaging suite specially designed to eliminate anxiety during an MRI offers children the chance to virtually experience a San Francisco trolley ride, or to play with a cast of animated critters as they boat around the San Francisco Bay.

Distinctive features of UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay include 4.3 acres of green space and 1.2 acres of rooftop gardens, soothing art- and light-filled interiors and a public plaza created in partnership with the city of San Francisco. In addition, UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay is on target to be one of the first LEED Gold-certified hospitals in California.

The Integrated Center for Design and Construction brought together more than 200 architects, engineers and contractors working side by side in a command center on the construction site. Construction of the hospitals began in December 2010.

UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital San Francisco
UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital San Francisco, provides treatment for virtually all pediatric conditions, as well as for critically ill newborns. The Neonatal Intensive Care Nursery at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital San Francisco was one of the first of its kind in the world. The hospital is affiliated with UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland.

The new 183-bed facility at Mission Bay creates an environment where children and their families find quality care at the forefront of scientific discovery. Private rooms in the intensive care nursery support the youngest patients, while the fully accredited classroom and teachers enable school-age patients to continue their education while focusing on their health. The hospital offers accommodations for families of pediatric patients and nearby lodging for those requiring longer stays.

UCSF Bakar Cancer Hospital
UCSF Bakar Cancer Hospital sets the standard in personalized care, delivering advanced cancer therapies tailored to individual patient needs. The hospital increases UCSF’s inpatient and outpatient capacity to meet growing demand, in a state-of-the-art facility. The new hospital will absorb many of the cancer surgery beds located at UCSF Medical Center at Mount Zion, offering cancer surgeries in specialties ranging from urology and orthopedics, to head and neck and gynecologic oncology. Specialists also serve the individual needs of cancer patients from the children’s and women’s hospitals. In the future, Mission Bay could house as many as 250 or more surgery beds, with a full complement of outpatient cancer care services.

UCSF Betty Irene Moore Women’s Hospital
As the region’s first dedicated women’s hospital, UCSF Betty Irene Moore Women’s Hospital will embody the philosophy of the UCSF National Center of Excellence in Women’s Health. The new hospital will deliver care that addresses health needs across a woman’s lifetime, including cancer treatment, specialty surgery, a 36-bed birth center, nine deluxe labor and delivery rooms and select outpatient services. Customizing care to each patient, the hospital will provide the best available diagnostic tests and treatments in a caring, women- and family-focused environment that incorporates the latest technology. Spacious rooms allow loved ones to spend the day or night comfortably.

Each labor and delivery room is designed to be respectful to patients and families during the life-altering event of childbirth. Combining sophisticated technical capabilities with carefully considered design choices, each room emits a sense of calm for the birthing experience. At the same time, it is a highly functional space for clinicians to provide quality care.

Photos courtesy of Mark Citret.