Stanford University Medical Center is now set to begin the final planning stages of a multibillion-dollar renovation of its hospitals and medical school facilities, following the completion of preliminary negotiations with the city of Palo Alto. The redevelopment is expected to begin in 2010, with the hospital remaining fully operational during reconstruction.

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Shams Shaikh

Construction begins outside the Stanford School of Medicine, as the University strives to meet state seismic standards. The multi-billion dollar construction project has inspired the frustration of officials from the City of Palo alto, who believe the project will jam transportation and over-work city services.

The Medical Center has proposed adding over 1.3 million square feet to its hospitals and entirely replacing its medical school facilities; many existing buildings are slated for demolition. The planned improvements will go a long way toward remedying the current shortage of patient beds, and will substantially modernize teaching and research facilities.

The redevelopment plan has been driven in part by California Senate Bill 1953, which dictates that all acute care medical facilities must retrofit or rebuild seismically unsound buildings by 2013, such that by 2030, the facilities could remain open in the aftermath of a major earthquake. State hospitals must comply or risk losing their operating licenses.

While the mandate has served as an impetus to action, the Center’s proposed construction goes far beyond its seismic requirements. Stanford Hospital and the Children’s Hospital will both be redesigned and significantly expanded, outfitted with state of the art imaging equipment, an expanded emergency room, additional surgical suites and private rooms for every patient to facilitate family-centered care and more space-effective intensive care units.

The overhaul of the Medical School campus will also complement recent changes in the curriculum, allowing for interdisciplinary collaborations between educators, researchers and clinicians.

“Aspects of research programs will [now more] closely align to clinical programs,” said Medical School Dean Phillip Pizzo, who called the redevelopment plans “truly transformative.”

But the construction will not come without a hefty bill. As hospitals across the state struggle to meet stricter seismic standards in time for the state-mandated deadline, demand for structural engineers and hospital construction materials has risen and costs have kept pace.

The current cost estimate for the hospitals’ redevelopment plan falls just over the $1 billion mark. The medical school project has been an even higher price tag at $1.3 billion.

Stanford will not seek state or federal funding to support construction, despite the multi-billion dollar price tag. To finance the endeavor, the Medical Center will rely instead on operations revenues and heavy borrowing, with a small percentage of funding coming from donors.

Incoming patients will also bear the brunt of construction costs, paying on average nearly $1,000 more a day to stay at either of the hospitals. Medical School officials could not confirm whether insurers will cover the fee hike or if increased fees will substantially change patient demographics.

While spokesmen for the Medical Center have described the redevelopment project in glowing terms, the plans have stirred controversy in Palo Alto. Concerned citizens and council members have argued that the Medical Center’s expansion, which is estimated to bring in an additional 2,500 employees, will considerably increase traffic, strain city services, reduce affordable housing and limit open space.

While the Palo Alto City Council approved the Medical Center’s draft area plan on July 23, Mayor Yoriko Kishimoto M.B.A. ‘79 has lingering concerns, but remains open to compromise.

“The challenge here is to bring out the best thinking and the best ideas and apply the brains of both Stanford and Palo Alto to solve this problem,” she said. “[We must] ask, how do we increase in density like this without the negative impact?”

Now that the draft has been approved, work will begin on an environmental impact report to assess what kind of development agreement will benefit both the Medical Center and the city of Palo Alto.

“We expect the [Medical Center’s] applications to be coming in over the next couple weeks,” Kishimoto said. “This is our opportunity to work together on integrating a planning framework, to address each other’s needs and develop a little more of a trust relationship.”