Jul 2, 2008 2:31 pm US/Pacific
Oak. Supervisors Approve Highland Hospital Tower
OAKLAND (BCN) ―
The Alameda County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a $682 million project to replace the acute care tower at Highland Hospital in Oakland.
County officials say the current inpatient facility must be replaced with a new, seismically-sound state-of-the-art facility in order to comply with recent state laws.
The project will be the largest investment in health care facilities in the county's history.
Construction on the first phase of the project is scheduled to begin late this year or early next year, with completion anticipated in 2017.
Plans call for the tower to be nine stories tall, have 230,000 square feet and house 160 beds.
Alameda County Assistant Administrator Donna Linton said the project is designed to maintain operation of hospital services throughout construction, including continuity of care at the regional trauma center and all other medical care services provided for the county's most vulnerable populations.
The county has conducted neighborhood meetings and tours of the facilities over the past year to acquaint the public with the proposed changes to the hospital. In addition, a public hearing was held in April.
Highland Hospital was dedicated in 1926.
Linton said the prominent historic front entry grounds, the
administration building and three wings of the original hospital will be preserved.
However, Linton said the new hospital construction will require the removal of several historic buildings from the Highland campus, including three wings of the original 1920s-era hospital and the 1950s-era clinic and the auditorium buildings.
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