Children’s Hospital of Orange County has kicked off construction on a 330,000-square-foot tower at its Orange campus, the latest major construction hospital project here.
The nine-story building near the intersection of Main Street and CHOC Court will hold pediatric outpatient services. Dubbed the Southwest Tower, the project will open in phases starting in 2025.
Its cost is estimated around $373 million. It’s the largest project for CHOC since 2013, when the 425,000-square-foot Bill Holmes Tower opened on the main campus.
When completed, the tower will include an outpatient imaging center, a dedicated Research Institute floor, oncology infusion services, multiple specialty clinics, and various patient and family amenities.
The design aims to liken the building to a beacon, visible from the Garden Grove (22) Freeway with curved architecture and a red and blue exterior.
Dr. Charles Golden, assistant chief medical officer, vice president and executive medical director of CHOC’s Primary Care Network, has been on the leadership team for the project, overseeing design and features.
“The Southwest Tower will create a one-stop shop, so to speak, for patients and families who currently are seen across numerous specialties,” Golden said.
Imaging, Research Hub
The new building will allow more younger patients to receive infusions like chemotherapy and other medications, as well as other procedures, without having to be admitted for an overnight hospital stay. The organization pointed to research indicating treating children on an outpatient basis can promote faster recovery times.
The tower will include an 11,000-square-foot imaging center on the fourth floor, while the ninth floor will be dedicated to CHOC’s Research Institute, offering access to pediatric research and clinical trials.
“The new research floor will be a significant expansion of our research enterprise and is a central element of CHOC’s ongoing commitment to provide every possible opportunity for the health of the children entrusted to our care,” Dr. Terence Sanger, vice president and chief scientific officer at CHOC, said.
McCarthy Building Cos., with a local office in Newport Beach, is the general contractor, Jacobs Construction is the program management partner and CannonDesign is the architect and design firm.
The same team also worked on the seven-story Bill Holmes Tower.
OC’s 7th Largest
More recently, CHOC took the wraps off its newest addition to its Orange campus: The Fetal Care Center of Southern California.
That 2,200-square-foot facility, which joined an adjacent outpatient heart center and cost a combined $5.25 million to build, delivered in 2021.
The facility is on the sixth floor of CHOC’s 13-story Commerce Tower office building on Main Street. That tower is located across from the main hospital.
CHOC is Orange County’s seventh-largest hospital with $653.4 million in patient revenue in 2021. The organization has 334 licensed beds in Orange County, and 152,309 annual outpatient visits. It’s in the midst of a $500 million capital campaign.