Kaiser Permanente Opens New Showcase Hospital in Oakland, the City Where Innovative Health-Care System was Born

OAKLAND, Calif., July 1, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Kaiser Permanente today opened a sparkling new medical center in central Oakland, the headquarters city where the nation's largest non-profit, integrated health-care system was founded nearly 70 years ago.

The 12-story, 349-bed, state-of-the-art hospital on the corner of Broadway and MacArthur Boulevard — directly across the street from the medical center it replaces —  demonstrates Kaiser Permanente's leadership in transforming care, and reinforces a longstanding and ongoing commitment to the City of Oakland.

"This new building culminates a years-long capital program to keep our hospitals and medical offices state of the art," said Gregory A. Adams, group president and regional president of Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and Health Plan, Inc., in Northern California. "The new medical center continues the long history we have had with the City of Oakland, and renews our commitment to enhance and improve the health and well-being of our members, and of the community at large."

The new hospital has all private rooms with room service, Wi-Fi and pull-out guest beds so relatives can stay close to loved ones hospitalized overnight. It contains a 24-hour Emergency Department with 52 private treatment bays, eight labor and delivery rooms and 14 inpatient operating rooms. It joins a specialty medical office building next door that opened Jan. 6. That facility has 102 provider offices, six outpatient operating rooms, seven outpatient procedure rooms, a new parking garage, a laboratory and a pharmacy. Five other medical office buildings nearby complete the medical center campus.

Kaiser Permanente is a national and international model of integrated care delivery, and regularly hosts delegations of medical experts from all over the world to see in person how high-quality care can be delivered consistently and efficiently to a large, diverse population. Because of its proximity to Kaiser Permanente's national headquarters, the new Oakland Medical Center will be a stop for many of these visitors.

"Kaiser Permanente is the quality and service leader in Northern California today, and this state-of-the-art hospital will allow us to expand the excellence of our medical care," said Robert Pearl, MD, executive director and CEO of The Permanente Medical Group. "Offering cutting-edge adult and pediatric services, this facility will set the standard for technologically advanced hospital care in the East Bay."

Children's Hospital within the Hospital

With its completion, the Oakland Medical Center solidifies and expands its role as a regional hub for pediatric inpatient and surgical care, and contains a full-service "children's hospital within a general hospital."

The pediatric unit will serve children from throughout Kaiser Permanente's Northern California region. The unit has all the pediatric sub-specialty services that any children's hospital provides, as well as a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and gathering areas specially designed for children.

Oakland Medical Center is the first in Northern California to have an intra-operative magnetic resonance imaging system, an advanced imaging technology that world-renowned pediatric neurosurgeons at the hospital will use during brain surgery.

Throughout the hospital, patient rooms feature the "Get Well Network," an interactive electronic patient care board connected to a 42-inch plasma screen. Patients can view television programs and patient-education videos, find the names of doctors and nurses, and read a care schedule. They can also order room-service meals using the small bedside keyboard.

On the first floor entrances and in each elevator lobby, an electronic "way-finding" board helps members and visitors find people and destinations in the hospital, in English, Spanish and Chinese.

The Oakland Medical Center is the second of three Kaiser Permanente hospitals that are opening this year in the San Francisco Bay Area. The new San Leandro Medical Center opened June 3, and the Redwood City Medical Center will open in December. Together, the three hospitals represent a more than $2 billion investment to expand access to health care in the Northern California region.

About Kaiser Permanente

Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America's leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, our mission is to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve approximately 9.3 million members in eight states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal physicians, specialists, and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information, go to: kp.org/share.

Contact:
Marc Brown, (510) 987-4672

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SOURCE Kaiser Permanente