HILLCREST, Calif.—DPR Construction recently celebrated the topping out of the new outpatient pavilion at UC San Diego Medical Center in Hillcrest on June 23, 2023.

Part of the first phase of the UC San Diego Long Range Development Plan, the six-story, 250,000-square-foot advanced medical facility will house key clinical programs, addressing the region’s growing demand for specialized diagnostic, treatment and surgical services, notably in cancer care.

The first phase of construction also includes a new parking structure to provide approximately 1,850 spaces for employees, patients and visitors, plus related road and utility infrastructure.

“The new outpatient pavilion will reflect the world-class care UC San Diego Health provides to the community on a daily basis. It’s so exciting to have achieved this topping out construction milestone,” said Lisa Rhodes, chief administrative officer for the Hillcrest redevelopment plan at UC San Diego Health. “We will transform lives in the new outpatient pavilion — ranging from regular checkups for orthopedic care, to infusion therapy for cancer treatment. Our multi-disciplinary teams will provide support services and the highest quality of care for San Diegans during their most vulnerable moments and throughout their health care journeys.”

The project team has focused on a “one team” approach throughout the project, working with a shared mission to navigate challenges together, pointed toward success for all.

“Everyone on our site knows that what we’re building is going to affect the lives of people in the community,” said Ian Pyka, a DPR Construction project executive. “In some cases, that’s people they know, but it could be our own families who come here for care. Everyone sees how what they do for the project plays a role in creating a place for care that will make a difference.”

The project is taking place on a complex site. In addition to needing to plan around an active hospital campus – the emergency department driveway is adjacent to the project site, for instance – the project is also in the middle of a residential neighborhood with many one-way streets, meaning logistical planning for deliveries and even staff arrival has been important. The site itself occupies a ravine that had a 75-ft. elevation change from one end to the other before work began.

“We’re working on an active campus and the team has spent a lot of time at the planning table to make sure everything moves smoothly and safely,” Pyka said. “Having all the right people at the table at the right time has been instrumental to success to date.”

The project team includes Arcadis (architect) and DPR Construction (general contractor).

Completion of the project is expected in 2025.

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Headaches are one of the most common disorders of the body’s nervous system, with 60 million Americans living with chronic migraine and headache, according to the American Academy of Neurology. For many, this disorder causes lifelong disability.

Expanding upon care provided for San Diegans living with headache disorders, UC San Diego Health recently opened a new, multidisciplinary center that will provide specialized care for such disorders, plus migraine and long-term side effects of traumatic brain injuries.

Each clinic room is equipped with green light, which has been shown to decrease symptoms of headache, sensitivity to light and anxiety.

The new Headache Center at UC San Diego Health is located in Sorrento Valley at 4910 Directors Place, Suite 250, San Diego, CA 92121.

“Ten percent of primary care visits are focused on headache and migraine, and many of these individuals require specialized care in order to improve their symptoms,” said Nina Riggins, MD, PhD, neurologist and headache specialist at UC San Diego Health, and director of the new center. “In partnership with primary care, women’s health, interventional radiology, neurosurgery, spine and pain specialists, and others, we will treat individuals who are dealing with serious, debilitating headache disease, with a targeted therapeutic approach.”

Patients will have access to both inpatient and outpatient treatment options, neuromodulation devices, nerve blocks, trigger point injections, Sphenopalatine ganglion blocks, Botox, otoneurology, infusion, integrative medicine such as acupuncture, and other interventions.

“At this center, patients will have access to an integrated and coordinated breadth of care across specialties that would otherwise have to be separately navigated,” said James Brewer, MD, PhD, chair of the Department of Neurosciences at UC San Diego School of Medicine and neurologist at UC San Diego Health. “This center will apply UC San Diego innovations to the care of patients with headache, and will train the next generation of practitioners in this new model of cross-specialty care.”

An interdisciplinary team of clinicians, surgeons, nurses, nurse practitioners and other specialists will be available for each patient. Each clinic room is equipped with green light, which has been shown to decrease symptoms of headache, sensitivity to light and anxiety.

“From the lighting to the music choices, the center has been thoughtfully and meticulously designed to bring a range of treatment options and services to our patients facing headache disorders,” said Christopher Kane, MD, CEO, UC San Diego Health Physician Group. “Our health system continues to expand services and locations throughout San Diego County so our patients have convenient access to our extraordinary teams for their health care needs for the years to come.”

Nina Riggins, MD, PhD, neurologist and headache specialists, is the director of the new center.

The Headache Center at UC San Diego Health is also the place of designation for research and education on headache and traumatic brain injury. Current clinical trials include studies of new medications, including calcitonin gene-related peptide blockers.

“We understand how challenging it can be to live with debilitating headache, and I’m so proud that we can provide our patients and community with leading-edge care and treatment of headache disorders at UC San Diego Health,” said Riggins. “This center is possible through the collaboration with our primary care providers and through this multidisciplinary approach we will achieve the best possible outcomes for our patients.”

UC San Diego Health is comprised of UC San Diego Medical Center in Hillcrest and Jacobs Medical Center, Sulpizio Cardiovascular Institute, Moores Cancer Center, Shiley Eye Institute, and the Altman Clinical and Translational Research Institute, all in La Jolla, as well as primary care and same-day services at clinics throughout Southern California. UC San Diego Health Medical Center is home to the area’s only Regional Burn Center and one of only two Level I trauma centers in the county.

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LA JOLLA, Calif. — The new Jacobs Medical Center at UC San Diego Health in La Jolla opened on Nov. 20, 2016. Construction began in 2012, and the center was named in recognition of a $75 million gift from the Joan and Irwin Jacobs family. The 245-bed new medical center brings cutting-edge technology for cancer treatment and other specialty care.

The 509,500-square-foot 10-story facility had a budget of $943 million. Architecture and interior design were provided as a collaboration between the Yazdani Studio of Cannon Design in Los Angeles and Cannon Design’s Los Angeles Office. The general contractor was Kitchell Contractors out of their San Diego and Phoenix, Ariz. offices.

The Jacobs Medical Center will contribute to meet the healthcare needs of San Diego County — San Diego is California’s second-most populated city, with 3.3 million residents, and 17 percent fewer acute-care beds per 100,000 residents compared to the statewide average, according to a statement. The medical center includes three specialty centers: one for women and infants, a cancer center, and an advanced surgery center.

The design team created over 60 design concepts with a wide range of configurations and relationships to other buildings on the campus throughout the process, according to William D. Hamilton, AIA, principal at Cannon Design. “The scheme continually changed over time, with the footprint and building envelope being driven by the number of beds per unit, and the number of rooms with windows and daylight defining the floorplate.”

The surgical center has 14 operating rooms with an advanced surgical suite of four operating rooms. The center also has an MRI and 64-slice CT scanner for real-time imaging. The medical center houses a cancer center with 108 beds in addition to its 245 acute-care beds. There is an entire floor in the cancer center dedicated to blood and bone marrow transplant surgery and recovery. One of the state-of-the-art features of the cancer center is a floor that receives specially filtered air to help protect patients with compromised immune systems, according to a statement.

The hospital also houses an intensive-care unit with 36 beds in family-friendly rooms, 36 postpartum beds and a 52-room, neonatal intensive-care unit. Each room in the birth center has its own built-in birthing tub. There is even a “serenity room” in the hospital, beautifully designed with wooden curved benches and walls that promote relaxation through their design.

The Jacobs Medical Center is a triangular building, with a unique curvilinear design, and is connected by footbridges to UCSD’s Thornton Hospital on the La Jolla campus. “The geometry creates a subtle continuous flowing curve of the exterior — a dynamic form that changes as one passes around the building’s perimeter,” said Hamilton. Most rooms at the hospital have floor-to-ceiling windows to maximize natural light with panoramic views of San Diego, and gardens outside the facility designed to promote healing.

There are dedicated family areas with lounges and kitchenettes on each inpatient floor, and outdoor terraces and courtyards. Every floor and patient room is decorated with the 150-piece art collection donated by philanthropist Joan Jacobs that includes paintings, photographs and sculptures by renowned artists. There is a rooftop helicopter landing pad, and the building has a low-carbon footprint that meets the requirements for LEED-Silver certification.

Some LEED-Silver features of the hospital include a drought-tolerant plantings and sprawling green space at the ground level and at the patient level via raised gardens, according to Hamilton. The overall curvilinear form of the hospital maximizes daylight and minimizes solar gain and glare. Fritted glass serves as buffer to the southern sunlight, minimizing the building’s cooling output. The building is in close proximity to bus and light-rail transit, provides designated parking for low-emitting vehicles, and includes bike storage and changing rooms to encourage alternative transportation.

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