Hoag Hospital Opens Giant $1.2-Billion Expansion in Irvine

A major hospital in Irvine, California is getting ready to open a huge new expansion. Hoag Hospital's Sun Family Campus cost $1.2 billion to build and adds six new buildings to the existing campus. A ribbon-cutting ceremony is set for Saturday, September 19, at 9 a.m. All new services are expected to be fully up and running by September 28.

The new campus adds 155 inpatient beds and about 475,000 square feet of new space. It includes special hospitals for women's health and for cancer and digestive diseases. There are also outpatient buildings, a surgery center, and a lab and logistics center. Skywalks and indoor gardens connect many of the buildings together, making it easy to move between them.

The women's hospital is one of the most talked-about parts of the expansion. It has 24 special birthing suites where mothers can give birth in a comfortable, calming setting. Each suite has a walk-in rain shower, a tub, and controls that let patients adjust the lights, blinds, and temperature. Doctors, nurses, and anesthesia teams are all close by if a mother needs extra help during labor.

Hoag already delivers more babies each year than any other hospital in California. Right now, the hospital handles about 9,000 births each year. With the new expansion, that number is expected to grow to 12,000 births per year by 2028. Hospital leaders say they noticed that many families from Irvine were traveling to Newport Beach to give birth, which helped inspire this expansion.

The rooms in the women's hospital are designed to feel modern and welcoming. Instead of old-fashioned dry-erase boards, rooms have digital screens that show the names of care team members and patient care plans. Families can also stay overnight on sofas in the rooms. A bright indoor garden and atrium connect the women's hospital to the outpatient building next door.

A new Comprehensive Breast Center is also part of the expansion. It features seven mammography suites, six ultrasound suites, and 29 exam rooms. Hospital leaders say the center is designed to feel like a day spa, so women feel relaxed when they come in for checkups. For the first time at this campus, a woman can go through her entire breast cancer journey — from diagnosis to surgery to treatment — all in one place.

The cancer and digestive hospital is another key piece of the new campus. It has 70 inpatient rooms, 42 private infusion rooms, and 31 oncology exam rooms. There is also a dedicated urgent care center just for cancer patients, so they do not have to sit in a busy emergency room when they are feeling weak or sick from treatment. A specialized pharmacy for cancer medicines is also on-site.

The surgical pavilion has eight operating rooms and 24 intensive care rooms. Hoag also plans to launch heart surgery and brain surgery services in the coming months. Hospital leaders say nurses and doctors were included in the design process to make sure the layout worked well for patient care. Senior Vice President Marcy Brown said the goal is to create a 'health care village' where people in the community can get everything they need close to home.