Hospital makes plans for more visitors

In November Sharp Chula Vista officially broke ground on its largest single capital investment project to date, a $244 million development dubbed Ocean View Tower.

The seven-story, 197,000 square-foot tower will serve as an expansion of Sharp Chula Vista’s main hospital at 751 Medical Center Court.

Ocean View Tower will add 138 private patient rooms, six large operating rooms, 10 intensive care suites, a rooftop café with panoramic views of San Diego, and additional space for support services including a pharmacy and kitchen.
One of the operating rooms will be a hybrid operating room that has a catheterization laboratory, said Pat Nemeth, vice president of facilities management and development at Sharp HealthCare.

The lab will allow physicians to conduct minimal invasive surgery.

Physicians will be able to perform surgery with a catheter in a vein and correct conditions in the heart or other areas in the body without opening the body, Nameth said.

Nemeth said Ocean View Tower is a response to an increase in patients that the hospital serves.

“Chula Vista continues to be one of the most rapidly growing sectors of San Diego County,” she said. “This hospital is really responding to that growth and demand.”

“There are many days when we are at capacity at Chula Vista and have to divert patients to other facilities because all of our beds are full. And it is for that reason that we are investing into the community.”

Originally the project cost $239 million but cost increased to $244 because of the $5 million hybrid procedure room, Nemeth said.

Funding for the project comes from philanthropic donations to the Sharp HealthCare Foundation, bonds, cash reserves and the Medi-Cal Hospital Fee program.

The grand opening for the tower is anticipated for 2019.

Ocean View Tower will be located on the north side of the hospital, adjacent to a new parking structure and the east tower and is said to be the highest point of the hospital.

“When you’re standing in that location you can see from Mexico to downtown San Diego, the views are just phenomenal. And we think that will further enhance the healing experience for the patience we serve there,” Nemeth said.

This is just one phase of an expansion project by the health system as part of its master site plan. Recently the hospital completed phase one which created a new parking structure with 718 parking spaces.

The building of Ocean View Tower is phase two of the project.