A major hurdle has been cleared in the Stanford Medical Center’s proposed expansion. Though Stanford Hospital & Clinics (SHC) is still negotiating with the city of Palo Alto regarding the construction process, an outside consultant has approved the University’s initial proposals.

Marlene Berkoff, an experienced architect hired by the city to evaluate the Hospital’s projected expansion, has given initial approval to the project’s logic and appropriateness of size.

“We’re very pleased” said Shelley Hebert, executive director of public affairs for SHC. “We think her preliminary findings validate what the Hospital has proposed.”

Berkoff evaluated Stanford’s project in a larger context.

“I compiled lots of comparable data from recent projects that had been built,” Berkoff said. “As well, I looked at other projects in the works. Looking at Stanford’s project relative to others, I was really working on the level of a room-by-room comparison. My investigation showed that yes, [Stanford plans] were in line with what these types of projects require.”

Stanford seeks to renovate the existing “Hospital Modernization Project” — a 1980s addition that is still referred to by this name — and Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital. The Medical Center also aims to construct a new main building for SHC that will replace a structure that dates back to the 1950s.

The size of Stanford’s proposed expansion, totaling 1.3 million square feet, has raised concerns in Palo Alto, both in terms of building height and traffic impact. In her evaluation, Berkoff paid special attention to ensure that the proposed space requirements were indeed necessary.

“Having looked at the space program so far, there’s not a lot of fat to cut, without cutting into the number of beds or some critical clinical programs,” she said. “The things you would typically look to cut — too many conference rooms, for instance — just aren’t there.

“Looking at the property, there needs to be some rationality in functional relevance,” Berkoff added. “Nursing units need to be a certain size, for instance. Too big and they don’t really work, and smaller you wind up with a number of beds that isn’t operationally efficient.”

From Stanford’s perspective, one of the benefits of the expansion is addressing current problems of overcrowding.

“The very highest priority for Stanford is to expand the emergency department,” Hebert said. “The Hospital is the only Level-1 trauma center between San Francisco and San Jose, and we’re exceeding our capacity to care for people.”

Berkoff will continue to assess the project as Stanford hammers out the details. The city and Stanford Medical Center hope to reach a development agreement by the end of 2008.

“Stanford has to present the alternatives it explored and explain why the one they selected is the best,” Berkoff said in an email to The Daily. “It is my job to look at those alternatives and assess whether or not Stanford has realistically studied the alternatives and that their reasons for rejecting them are valid — from a medical and architectural planning perspective.”

But Berkoff saw a consistent basis for the project.

“There’s a need for an update and a need for more space,” she said. “If you accept the need, then the project makes sense.”