Even as California hospitals struggle under the weight of mounting coronavirus infections, one healthcare organization is moving ahead with construction plans to expand and improve its offerings to patients and the surrounding community. 

Plans to build a world-class, acute care hospital on the University of California, Irvine academic campus advanced significantly recently as the University of California Board of Regents granted approval of the project’s 144-bed acute care facility, ambulatory care center and cancer center.

The new UCI Health medical campus will complement the flagship UCI Medical Center in Orange, home to Orange County’s principal tertiary-quaternary care center; only combined Level I adult and Level II pediatric trauma and regional burn centers; and specialty care at the UCI Health Digestive Health Institute and the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, the county’s only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center.

The UCI healthcare system will feature two advanced medical centers, nationally recognized research units conducting hundreds of clinical trials, and a network of community locations stretching to all corners of Orange County. In addition, the surrounding grounds of UCI Presidential Gateway will offer educational programs, academic research, art and nature trails.

All stages of project planning and construction on the UCI Presidential Gateway site will meet or exceed the 2019 UC Sustainable Practices Policy goals. In accordance with California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) guidelines and UC guidelines for the implementation of CEQA, an initial study by UCI found that the project will have little impact on the environment.

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