Sutter Health planning $1 billion investment in facilities, services

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Sutter Health is planning a significant $1 billion investment to construct a flagship campus in the city of Emeryville, part of an expansion of services in California’s East Bay.

The Emeryville campus will feature a regional destination ambulatory care complex and a new medical center with an initial capacity of up to 200 beds, plus room for future expansion.

Sutter said its plan prioritizes recruiting primary care and specialty physicians, reducing barriers for patients when scheduling appointments and obtaining referrals for care, and investing in programs and partnerships to strengthen the healthcare workforce. 

WHAT’S THE IMPACT

When complete, the new, 1.3 million-square-foot medical campus will offer outpatient services at two existing buildings plus acute care services at a newly constructed medical center adjacent to those buildings. The Sutter Emeryville campus will also offer medical office space and parking at an existing 1,992-space parking garage.

Key features of the campus include a new ambulatory care complex offering hospital-based outpatient clinics, an orthopedic center, physical therapy, ophthalmology, a women’s center, pediatrics, digestive diseases and surgery, an OB/GYN graduate medical education clinic, urology, ear, nose and throat (ENT), audiology, endoscopy center, urgent care, imaging and laboratory.

The first ambulatory patients are expected as early as 2028, Sutter said.

A new medical center with up to 200 beds is slated to include labor and delivery, neonatal intensive care, an ICU, emergency services, imaging services, operating rooms, private patient rooms and additional space for future bed expansion. 

The target opening for the new medical center is 2032-2033, replacing acute care services at the Ashby Avenue campus, which will transition to focus on ambulatory surgery, urgent care and possibly skilled nursing services.

THE LARGER TREND

Responding to what it called a community need, Sutter said it plans to expand behavioral health at the Herrick campus in Berkeley. Patients will access acute, crisis and outpatient care, while ensuring specialized care for those with the most complex and serious conditions, the system said.

Meanwhile, renovation of a 10,000-square-foot medical office building on Adeline Street is already underway. This 20-exam-room primary care facility will also offer dedicated OB/GYN services. It will be staffed by 10 providers and is slated to open in the spring.    

Jeff Lagasse is editor of Healthcare Finance News.
Email: jlagasse@himss.org
Healthcare Finance News is a HIMSS Media publication.