printable version2007 in review: Medical center rebuild got rolling with development plan, construction
The medical center's overhaul picked up steam this year with off-campus construction and fruitful negotiations with Palo Alto over approval to rebuild and expand Stanford's two hospitals. Ultimately the medical center aims to replace outdated school buildings, and rebuild and expand patient-care areas.
As the year opened, Stanford Hospital & Clinics began building an outpatient center in Redwood City in the complex formerly occupied by Excite@Home, near U.S. Highway 101. The center, planned to open late next year, is slated to house services including ambulatory surgery, dermatology, orthopedics, pain management and a sleep study center.
To further ease the space crunch, most of the medical school's central administrative staff is moving off campus this month to offices leased from SRI in Menlo Park.
On campus, the first obvious sign of change occurred last month, with the demolition of Fair-child Auditorium. That spot will be filled with a new hub for the medical school, the Learning and Knowledge Center, with space for classrooms, a conference center and a floor of mock hospital environments for training purposes. The school's planners aim to complete the center by March 2010. They envision an adjacent building, not yet approved, housing a medical library and Educational Programs and Services.
However, the change that would have the greatest visual impact is the renewal project for Stanford Hospital and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital. The medical center's leaders propose to replace the 50-year-old Stanford Hospital building with a new hospital including some sections rising up to 130 feet. They also propose an expansion of Packard Children's. The project would increase Stanford's total beds from 456 to 600 and Packard Children's from 104 to 361 on site. The rebuild would also bring the hospitals into compliance with state seismic safety standards they are required to meet by 2013.
Since the hospital sites fall within Palo Alto's jurisdiction, the medical center needs the city's approval before building can begin. Discussions began in earnest in November 2006 when medical school leaders presented a preliminary plan to the city council. Since then, city and medical center staff have met frequently, fleshing out the proposal's details. And Palo Alto launched the environmental review process, including community meetings to get public input on issues to be included in the review.
Then last month, the city council voted to consider zoning changes vital to the project. Among the changes would be eliminating the city's 50-foot height limit on construction.
If the process continues as planned, the draft environmental impact report will be ready for review in June 2008, and the council could take final action on the report in December 2008. Stanford leaders hope to conclude the development agreement with the city of Palo Alto within that time, to begin construction on the hospitals in 2010 and complete the project 15 years later. —Rosanne Spector