Kaiser Westside Medical Center
Encyclopedia
Kaiser Westside Medical Center is a hospital
Hospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....

 under construction in the Tanasbourne
Tanasbourne, Oregon
Tanasbourne, Oregon is a neighborhood in Washington County, Oregon where NW 185th Avenue and U.S. Route 26 intersect. The area sits between Beaverton and Hillsboro, and is generally considered to be south of U.S. 26, north of Walker Road, west of 158th, and east of Cornelius Pass Road...

 neighborhood in Hillsboro
Hillsboro, Oregon
Hillsboro is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and is the county seat of Washington County. Lying in the Tualatin Valley on the west side of the Portland metropolitan area, the city is home to many high-technology companies, such as Intel, that compose what has become known as the...

 in the U.S. state of Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

. Scheduled to open in 2012 with 126 hospital beds, the Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is an integrated managed care consortium, based in Oakland, California, United States, founded in 1945 by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and physician Sidney Garfield...

 facility is planned to later expand to 174 beds. Designed by Ellerbe Becket Architects and Petersen Kolberg & Associates Architects/Planners, construction began in June 2009 by Andersen Construction on the $220 million project at a site adjacent to Kaiser’s existing Sunset Medical Office in the Portland metropolitan area
Portland metropolitan area
The Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metropolitan Statistical Area , also known as the Portland metropolitan area or Greater Portland, is an urban area in the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington centered around the city of Portland, Oregon. The U.S...

.

History

Kaiser-Permanente broke ground on their Sunset Medical Office on 50 acres (20.2 ha) in what was then unincorporated
Unincorporated
Unincorporated may refer to:* Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality* Unincorporated entity, a type of organization* Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress has determined that only select parts of the U.S...

 Washington County in August 1986. The facility, a 41000 ft2 two-story brick building designed by Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership
Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership
ZGF Architects LLP , formerly Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership, is an American architectural firm based in Portland, Oregon at twelve west. Founded in 1942, the firm was listed as one of the 10 largest architectural firms in the United States in 2002...

, was built at a cost of $5.2 million and opened in 1987. The organization originally planned to build a hospital on the site in addition to their medical offices. They dropped those plans in the mid-1990s and sold 35 of the acres (14 ha) of the site to Trammell Crow Company
Trammell Crow Company
Trammell Crow Company is a Dallas-based real estate development, investment and operations company founded by the late Trammell Crow, and operated as an independent subsidiary of CB Richard Ellis. It was founded by Trammell Crow in 1948 and purchased in late 2006...

 in 1997 for construction of apartments.

In June 2005, Kaiser announced plans to build a 138-bed hospital at the site that had since been annexed by Hillsboro after deciding not to build a hospital in Vancouver, Washington
Vancouver, Washington
Vancouver is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington. Incorporated in 1857, it is the fourth largest city in the state with a 2010 census population of 161,791 as of April 1, 2010...

. Kaiser had planned to purchase 53 acres (21.4 ha) from sportswear maker Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...

 near Beaverton for building a hospital, but Nike backed out after Beaverton planned to annex Nike's headquarters. Hillsboro earlier rejected proposals by Providence Health & Services to build a new hospital in the Orenco
Orenco, Oregon
Orenco is a former company town in Washington County, Oregon, United States, located between Hillsboro and Aloha. The former community of Orenco now forms the Orenco neighborhood in Hillsboro, which is the site of the Orenco Station housing development.The community was established in 1905 as a...

 section of the city, with Hillsboro based Tuality Healthcare
Tuality Healthcare
Tuality Healthcare is a non-profit, community health care organization based in Hillsboro, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1983, the organization operates two community hospitals in Washington County, Oregon, and has been selected on several occasions as one of Oregon’s 100 Best Companies to Work...

 opposed to the Providence plan due to the proximity to their Tuality Hospital (the only hospital in the city) in downtown Hillsboro. However, Tuality was not opposed to Kaiser's hospital proposal, as they did not view the health maintenance organization
Health maintenance organization
A health maintenance organization is an organization that provides managed care for health insurance contracts in the United States as a liaison with health care providers...

's hospital as a direct competitor.

The original plans in Hillsboro called for $285 million facility that would have construction begin in fall 2006 and the campus then open in spring 2009. Once completed the first phase was to have 450000 ft2 of space, and would grow from an initial 138 beds. The main hospital building, two parking garages, a medical office building, and a hospital support building were to be part of the first phase of construction, with additional buildings and hospital beds to be added later to bring the total size of the campus to 2000000 ft2. The city rejected the initial design plans as too industrial in design and did not grant a request to allow for structures over 90 feet (27.4 m) in height. Hillsboro’s planning commission approved a revised plan in November 2005 that included one building planned to be 93 feet (28.3 m) tall along with aesthetic improvements
Aesthetics
Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, and taste, and with the creation and appreciation of beauty. It is more scientifically defined as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment and taste...

 to the campus, and the city council approved the plans the following month. Kaiser would also be responsible for some infrastructure improvements in the Tanasbourne area to mitigate the increased traffic generated by the hospital complex.

In 2006, competitors Legacy Health Systems and Providence, who both operate hospital networks in the Portland metropolitan area
Portland metropolitan area
The Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metropolitan Statistical Area , also known as the Portland metropolitan area or Greater Portland, is an urban area in the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington centered around the city of Portland, Oregon. The U.S...

, opposed the project and attempted to have the state not issue a certificate of need
Certificate of Need
A Certificate of Need , in the United States, is a legal document required in many state and some federal jurisdictions before proposed acquisitions, expansions, or creations of facilities are allowed. CONs are issued by a federal or state regulatory agency with authority over an area to affirm...

 required to build a hospital in Oregon. After public hearings and arguments by both sides, Kaiser was issued the certificate of need in January 2007, but pushed back the opening to 2010.

In September 2007, Kaiser decided to review their plans for the project and put the hospital on hold. Kaiser worked to redesign the hospital and in September 2008 announced they would begin construction on the facility in 2009. The new design called for an initial 121 beds and grow to 174 at an estimated cost of $285 million. Hillsboro approved the new plans for a smaller hospital in February 2009, with Kaiser to begin construction in June 2009. The new plans would have the $242 million hospital open in 2013 with 126 hospital beds on a campus of 850000 ft2, with full build out on the site to be completed by 2040.

On June 17, 2009, construction began with a groundbreaking
Groundbreaking
Groundbreaking, also known as cutting, sod-cutting, turning the first sod or a sod-turning ceremony, is a traditional ceremony in many cultures that celebrates the first day of construction for a building or other project. Such ceremonies are often attended by dignitaries such as politicians and...

 ceremony attended by local dignitaries including Hillsboro mayor Jerry Willey and Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski
Ted Kulongoski
Theodore R. "Ted" Kulongoski is an American politician, who served as the 36th Governor of Oregon. A Democrat, he has served in both houses of the Oregon Legislative Assembly, as the state Insurance Commissioner, the Attorney General, and an Associate Justice on the Oregon Supreme Court.-Early...

. After excavation during the summer, construction of the steel and concrete frame began in 2010. As of August 2010, completion is scheduled in Spring 2012, with construction costs totaling $220 million out of a total cost of $360 million.

Design

Located on Evergreen Parkway at Stucki Avenue just west of 185th Avenue, the hospital site is at the location of Kaiser’s existing Sunset Medical Office in the Tanasbourne neighborhood
Tanasbourne, Oregon
Tanasbourne, Oregon is a neighborhood in Washington County, Oregon where NW 185th Avenue and U.S. Route 26 intersect. The area sits between Beaverton and Hillsboro, and is generally considered to be south of U.S. 26, north of Walker Road, west of 158th, and east of Cornelius Pass Road...

. The new buildings will surround the existing clinic. Scheduled to open in 2012, the facility is expected to employ about 1,100 people. Once completed, the hospital will be the first new one in Washington County
Washington County, Oregon
- Major highways :* Interstate 5* Interstate 205* U.S. Route 26* Oregon Route 6* Oregon Route 8* Oregon Route 10* Oregon Route 47* Oregon Route 99W* Oregon Route 210* Oregon Route 217* Oregon Route 219-Demographics:...

in almost 40 years.

Ellerbe Becket Architects and Petersen Kolberg & Associates Architects/Planners designed the facility and Andersen Construction is the general contractor. The design of the hospital includes templated floor plans that re-use existing interior designs employed at other Kaiser hospitals, which help reduce costs. Unlike many California based Kaiser facilities, the Westside Medical Center will have a brick and glass exterior, and a more extensive waterproofing system underground.

The hospital structure will initially have 126 hospital beds in a 280000 ft2 building, but is planned to expand to 174 beds inside a 728400 ft2 facility. This will accomplished with the construction of a second patient tower. Both towers will be triangular in shape and connected to the main hospital building. The main hospital building will be in the middle portion of the southern half of the project site, with the first patient tower to the west along 194th Terrace. The first parking structure will also be along that street, north of the patient tower. On the southeast corner of the site is the location of the central utility plant.

When all phases are completed, the campus will include a nearly 550000 ft2 parking structure and two other buildings totaling 262000 ft2 with the campus covering over 1500000 ft2 on the 15 acres (6.1 ha) site. Departments will include surgery, intensive care, emergency, labor and delivery, neurology, orthopedics, cardiology, and allergy. The campus will also include a public health resources center and a pharmacy.

External links

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