KAISER PERMANENTE: Opens ‘One-Of-A-Kind’ Facility In Otay Mesa
Kaiser Permanente will open a new "bedless hospital" August 31 that offers patients in Otay Mesa more services than a typical medical office but less than a hospital. "This facility is one of a kind. It will have more services than a typical outpatient medical office, so we're describing it as an Outpatient Medical Center," said Ken Colling, Kaiser's San Diego-area leader. The project cost about $50 million and took about a year to build, with further construction projects planned over the next few months. "We aimed to create a flexible building, able to adapt to the changing needs of the next century," said Eva Szots, a member of Kaiser's department of facility design. "Considering the mix of services and the design concepts, the Otay Mesa facility will set the model of a true 'bedless hospital' in the design community," she said. Szots said that health officials from New York and Minnesota have called inquiring about Kaiser's project, and that many in the architectural community are interested in what type of facilities will suit health care's future. Kaiser plans other similar facilities in the state (Kaiser release, 8/26).
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