Plans have been unveiled for a $1.2 billion Scripps San Marcos medical center campus, which will include a 200- to 500-bed hospital and a roughly 200,000-square-foot ambulatory care building. NBC 7’s Todd Strain reports.
Scripps Health announced plans Monday to build a new medical center campus in San Marcos, which will include an ambulatory care facility and acute care hospital.
Plans for the Scripps San Marcos Medical Center campus are moving forward decades after Scripps Health purchased property in the North County city towards that end.
"We acquired the San Marcos property 35 years ago, but it wasn't the right time to build," Chris Van Gorder, Scripps Health president and CEO, said in a statement.
"Our patient population in the area has since grown to the point that it made sense for us to move forward. Scripps provides care to many residents of the San Marcos region today and this campus will expand access and make care more convenient for these patients and their families."
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The campus will be located on 13 acres south of state Route 78 and near Twin Oaks Valley Parkway.
The ambulatory care facility is expected to be constructed first, and will include primary care physician offices, ambulatory surgery and cancer care, among other services. The hospital is in the planning stages and is expected to have 200 to 250 beds, Scripps Health said.
"A major player like Scripps choosing to invest in San Marcos is exciting on so many levels," San Marcos Mayor Rebecca Jones said. "We have worked hard to become a premier health care hub in the region, which not only supports a strong local economy but contributes to the ultimate goal of making San Marcos a place where people live long, healthy lives."
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South Bay mayor concerned new North County Scripps hospital could impact care
The healthcare company told the San Diego Union-Tribune the new location could mean they will need to scale back renovations at their Chula Vista and Hillcrest locations, and some in the South Bay, including Chula Vista Mayor John McCann, are concerned it could affect patient care.
"When you're closing down a department at a hospital, which is one of the stalwarts in the area -- and it's not just the city of Chula Vista, Scripps Chula Vista really serves a majority of the South County. And, by reducing services and departments at that hospital, it negatively affects people's opportunity to have good health care in our community," McCann said.
The health care company last year closed its labor and delivery unit at Scripps Mercy Chula Vista. Before it closed its maternity ward, Scripps Chula Vista said it provided 14% of deliveries for mothers who live in the South Bay.
The mayor said he plans to set up a meeting with Scripps to discuss ways to expand services in Chula Vista.
