UCSF Medical Center receives $125 million gift to build ne...(cent to UCSF's 43-acre biomedical resear...),Health

"This children's, women's and cancer hospital will enable UCSF to carry through on the promise of uniting advanced biomedical research with world-class clinical care, so our research findings can be rapidly translated into medical advances that directly benefit patients," said Mark Laret, chief executive officer of the UCSF Medical Center. "It is also crucial to our effort to meet the growing patient demand for pediatric and adult health care along the entire Pacific Rim."

Expanding UCSF Programs, Boosting Jobs

Laret said the new hospitals also benefit programs throughout UCSF by allowing expansion across the enterprise at all sites. That, in turn, will benefit all four of the UCSF schools dentistry, medicine, nursing and pharmacy for which it serves as a training ground.

The project also will benefit the Bay Area by boosting local jobs. This is the largest building project currently approved by the University of California Board of Regents and among the largest hospital projects on the West Coast.

Site work on the project is scheduled to begin in spring 2010. This year, as part of the advance work, the project is expected to generate more than 300 jobs. That number is expected to rise each year to more than 1,000 jobs during the peak construction in 2013. It also will create several hundred new healthcare positions when the medical center opens. UCSF already is the second-largest employer in the City and County of San Francisco.

The world-class hospital complex will provide comprehensive diagnostic, interventional and support services, and will offer advanced robotic and imaging technology in surgery, all in a soothing environment centered on the compassionate care of patients and their families.