With several development projects in the works and a growing population in the South Bay, Sharp Chula Vista announced it is investing in a $240 million project they say will help alleviate the increasing need for healthcare.
“There’s tremendous growth in the city of Chula Vista and we have seen that there’s a growing need in the community for healthcare here in the South Bay area,” said Pablo Velez, CEO of Sharp Chula Vista.
Sharp Chula Vista is set to break ground on its Ocean View Tower next fall and will be the health system’s largest investment to date at $239 million.
The tower, scheduled for completion in September 2019, will be located on the north side of the hospital, adjacent to a new parking structure and the east tower.
“When we build the tower we’re going to have these views to the ocean, to the downtown area, to the mountains,” Velez said.
The 170,000-square-foot, seven-story medical tower features six levels of in-patient floors and 138 new beds. The tower will also house six new operating rooms and include a kitchen and pharmacy on one of the floors.
Velez said the services that will be provided at the Ocean View Tower are in-patient services such as surgical suites.
The addition of 138 beds is much needed because Sharp Chula Vista is one of the busiest hospitals in the South Bay and at times patients have to wait a long time for an in-patient bed, Velez said.
Benjamin Hourani, physician advisor for case management at Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center, said the tower with the addition of more beds would make the work of physicians easier.
“It will physically add an expansion of beds that will allow us to get patients in and out (of care) in a much more efficient fashion,” he said.
This is just one phase of an expansion project by the health system as part of its master site plan. Recently the hospital completed phase one, which created a new parking structure with 718 parking spaces. The building of Ocean View Tower is phase two of the project. Velez said currently the project is going through the permitting process and seeking an amendment of conditional use permit.
Five years ago the hospital expanded its emergency department to include 48 beds.
Funding for the tower will come from revenue from its day-to-day operations, revenue bonds and fundraising and donations.
Velez said the new tower would help Sharp Chula Vista remain competitive.
“We don’t want our South Bay patients to go anywhere (else) for care,” he said. “They could stay here in their community without the need to be transferred or moved somewhere,” he said.
