Children’s hospital invests $1 billion to modernize Oakland facilities

UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital has a $1 billion plan to expand its Oakland facility, and community members can share their feedback on the plan’s impact. 

Oakland and East Bay children need safety, comfort and convenience a modern facility can offer. According to the latest census, the city of Oakland has approximately 94,000 children under age 19 who need access to care. 

The UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital, formerly known as Oakland Children’s Hospital, is investing one billion dollars to make this happen. 

The current building that houses the hospital is mostly outdated and seismically non-compliant. The hospital, in partnership with UCSF since 2015, is in its second phase of developing and modernizing the centennial old building to meet the growing needs of the community.

There is a need to create more private rooms, rather than shared rooms, so that families can have extra space and respite during their stay in the hospital. The current Emergency Room (ER) and Operating Rooms (OR) need to be updated to the current standards to allow for advanced medical technologies.

Renovation Process

Modernizing the campus started with a phased approach with refurbishing and renovating the 109 year-old building that sits at the corner of 52nd street and Martin Luther King Way. The main aim is to improve the ability of the hospital to be able to admit more patients by creating more bed spaces. This will allow the hospital to be able to give more patient experience and provide critical infrastructure for the children of Oakland and East Bay community.

Currently, the hospital provides 191 beds to care for the sickest children.

In 2018, a new six story 89,000 sq. ft addition to the Outpatient Center opened with health services for children that include cardiology, dermatology, ear-nose throat, laboratory, pathology, pediatric rehabilitation center, neurology, urology and nephrology clinics.

The modernized new campus will accommodate new technologies, extra space for private rooms and more services including an inpatient Mental Health Care Facility.

Phases of Renovations

Phase 1 of refurbishing and renovating had another milestone in 2021 with the opening of a renovated 21 private rooms for the Pediatric Intensive care Unit (PICU).

Phase 2 of the campus modernization and expansion started last July as part of the estimated $1 billion, 10-year initiative. Part of the modernization will  include the new operating rooms to accommodate a level one trauma unit that will continue to provide state-of-the art care. 

As part of infrastructure improvement, the central utility plant that supplies crucial patient and operational needs will be modernized. With some of the campus buildings age ranging from 40-90 years, seismic safety is an important part of the renovations. The plan is to complete all upgrades by 2030 and move all acute care into the newer buildings.

In 2023, Phase 2 enhancements will include private rooms to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), as well as additional mental health services and beds. The Surgical and Emergency Department (ED) and Operating Room (OR) will be replaced with an adjacent imaging facility to support the needs of the ED. A new hospital administrative support building will also be constructed in July of 2023.

Worker Perspectives on Investment, Facilities

The National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) also recently held an historic strike in front of the Oakland campus to demand that Children’s hospital services and care stay in Oakland. The corporatization of healthcare proved to be worrisome for a lot of the workers, healthcare workers reported, anecdotally, that surgeries that occurred in Oakland are now being diverted to the San Francisco campus. 

NUHW representatives declined to comment on this story. 

Community Engagement and Environmental Impact Report

While UCSF claims to facilitate a collaborative approach by engaging with the community of Oakland, there have been many concerns voiced by patients who regularly access health services from this campus. Allegations include that patients can no longer have the same community level of service, or are being redirected across the Bay to UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in San Francisco. Transportation costs make access difficult for some patients. 

UCSF representatives did not respond to multiple calls and emails since last summer requesting comment for this story.

The Environmental Impact Report (EIR) recently closed the comment period for the Notice of Preparation and the draft was expected to be published in November 2023, but was not published until January 2024. 

A Draft EIR Public Hearing will take place on Thursday, February 15 6.pm. on Zoom. Attendees can comment on the adequacy of the EIR. 

Community members have until March 1 to comment on the draft EIR.