$1.48B Kaiser Sacramento hospital could break ground in 2024

$1.48B Kaiser Sacramento hospital could break ground in 2024 unknown

Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente might be breaking ground on a hospital in the Sacramento rail yards this year, the Sacramento Business Journal reported Feb. 15.

The project, which will replace the current 287-bed Arden-Arcade, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente Sacramento Medical Center, is expected to cost $1.48 billion, according to a free estimate request the city received in December, the publication reported. 

The estimated cost is 50% higher than Kaiser's original project estimate six years ago, when the health system initially had plans to open the hospital by 2023.

Kaiser has already invested $100 million to move the project forward, James Robinson III, PsyD, senior vice president and area manager of Kaiser's Sacramento and South Sacramento service areas, told the publication.

"Hospitals are changing. There used to be a time when you'd build these 1,000-bed behemoths, and we don't need that anymore," Dr. Robinson told the Sacramento Business Journal. "We don't need quite as many beds. We know a lot more about how to keep people out of the hospital."

Kaiser began discussions to purchase an 18-acre site in the rail yards for the hospital in 2015, but completed the purchase in 2019. 

The health system filed a project application with state healthcare regulators in 2023, which includes a 310-bed hospital that comprises 17 operating rooms and a 90-bed emergency department. It would also feature a central utility plant, a seven-story parking garage, and a five-story hospital support building, the publication reported.

While a spokesperson for Kaiser did not provide Becker's with an additional statement on the hospital, they confirmed that the Sacramento Business Journal's reporting is factually accurate.