The original Kaiser Fontana Hospital (“Hospital”) was built in 1955. This facility consisted of Hospital Phase 1A. Several buildings have been added since then. In 2007, the regional call center was removed from the medical center site and relocated to a commercial building at 17284 Slover Avenue in Fontana. This relocation resulted in removal of approximately 600 employees from the medical center campus. By late 1994, the hospital supported its existing 420 beds and other ancillary support services, including medical outpatient, administrative services, utility services, and parking areas.

The project is being proposed by Kaiser Foundation Hospitals (“Kaiser” or “the applicant”) for two main reasons: 1) retrofitting/rebuilding to better accommodate state of the art medical facilities and procedures, and 2) to comply with Senate Bill (SB) 1953, which mandates that all hospitals remain functional after a major seismic event.

Operating rooms, examination rooms, patient rooms, and treatment area space needs have evolved over the last 25 years. The space allocation and facilities to support the technology and equipment that is increasingly used in modern medical practices must be better accommodated at this Hospital.

In 2006, the California Legislature passed SB 1953, which mandates that by January 1, 2015, all California hospitals shall be able to remain functional after a major seismic event. In order to comply with SB 1953, Kaiser considered various solutions for the non-compliant Hospital. These alternatives included the feasibility of retrofitting the existing Hospital to meet current seismic safety standards; phasing out use of the existing Hospital and partnering with other hospitals in the Inland Empire area; inpatient utilization of other Kaiser locations; and rebuilding on the existing medical center campus. This alternatives study concluded that a seismic safety upgrade of the facilities would not be a practical cost-effective solution, nor would partnering with other hospitals or using other Kaiser locations. Therefore, Kaiser has determined that replacing the existing Hospital is the most viable option to achieve the two main goals.

Features

The proposed project would consist of renovations to and demolition/reconstruction of several of the facilities on the medical center campus. Existing and future proposed facilities and medical center characteristics are outlined in Table 1, Project Statistical Summary. Existing facilities are shown and labeled on Figure 4, Existing Medical Center Campus. Figure 5, Proposed Medical Center Campus, shows the project after completion of demolition and new construction. The existing campus use and the proposed renovations or reconstruction effort are described below.

Emergency and Inpatient Services

The 679,598-square-foot existing Hospital is located in the northwestern portion of the medical center campus. Existing emergency services consist of 14,985 square feet of emergency room and general treatment. There are currently 41 emergency room beds. These facilities are located in Phase 1B of the existing hospital. The remainder of the existing Hospital building consists of 664,613 square feet of inpatient facilities, which consist of operating rooms, recovery rooms, inpatient care, MRI services, and telecom.

Approximately 393,970 square feet of the existing Hospital, including all emergency and inpatient service areas and facilities, would be demolished (see construction phasing discussion in Section 5.0). The remaining 285,628 square feet of the existing Hospital would be reconfigured to support the new hospital. A new full service, freestanding hospital would be constructed within the southern portion of the campus. The new hospital would support approximately 819,423 square feet of hospital facility space and would accommodate up to 394 licensed beds. The new hospital facility would consist of eight stories, including one subterranean level. The building would not exceed 130 feet in height.

The southern portion of the existing Hospital would remain. This space would be reconfigured to support the new hospital. The existing MRI would remain, and the telecom room would be remodeled.

The project site is located at 9961 Sierra Avenue. The site consists of 47 acres just north of Interstate 10 (I-10). The hospital site is bounded by Marygold Avenue on the north, Sierra Avenue to the west, Valley Boulevard to the south, and multi-family residential and commercial land uses to the east.

Kaiser has submitted entitlement applications with the Planning Division. The City is currently reviewing the project for consistency with development standards. It is anticipated that the project will go before the Planning Commission in late November.

• Kaiser Existing Site Plan (672kb)
• Kaiser Proposed Site Plan (684kb)
• Location Map (77kb)