UCI breaks ground on new Irvine hospital, medical complex

“Of all the things we do at UCI, all the myriad ways our community is served, none are more important than the activities of our academic health center," UCI Chancellor Howard Gillman told donors, campus and community leaders at the groundbreaking for the new $1.3 billion UCI Medical Center — Irvine. Photo: Steve Zylius/UC Irvine
The University of California, Irvine and UCI Health have broken ground on a new medical complex at the north end of the Irvine campus.
The $1.3 billion complex, approved by the UC Board of Regents in January, will include a 144-bed acute care hospital with an emergency room, an outpatient Center for Advanced Care for primary and specialty health services, a Center for Children’s Health and the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center and Ambulatory Care building.
“Today we mark a milestone in the history of UCI, of the history of Irvine and of anywhere in our region where people need the world-class care that is provided only by an academic health center,” UCI Chancellor Howard Gillman told more than 100 people, including leaders from UCI, the community and donors, who were assembled for Monday evening’s groundbreaking ceremony.
“Of all the things we do at UCI, all the myriad ways our community is served, none are more important than the activities of our academic health center. People come to us when they are at their most vulnerable; they turn to us to make their lives better; and the outcomes of our efforts have the greatest effect on those lives.”
The complex will connect with the UCI Health primary care network throughout Orange County, creating the region’s only health system supported by one of the nation’s premier academic research institutions.
“UCI Health is building the next chapter of healthcare in Orange County,” said UCI Health CEO Chad T. Lefteris. "The new UCI Medical Center — Irvine will be a full-service academic medical complex, bringing a broad range of the most advanced healthcare services to coastal and southern Orange County, including access to the hundreds of clinical trials underway at UCI Health.”
Key clinical programs at the new complex will include oncology, neurology and neurosurgery, orthopedics and spine surgery, as well as advanced digestive health services. The new medical center also will be a hub for participation in Orange County’s largest clinical trials portfolio — including early-phase trials — in cancer, neurosciences, stem cell-derived treatments, internal medicine and more.
In addition to the 350,000-square-foot acute care hospital, the medical complex will feature:
- The 225,000-square-foot Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center and Ambulatory Care building, which will offer state-of-the-art cancer care, rooted in the innovation and excellence of Orange County’s only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center. It will be the future home of Orange County’s only adult hematopoietic stem cell/bone marrow transplant program, which was launched last year at the existing UCI Medical Center in the City of Orange and has successfully treated more than 40 patients.
- The 168,000-square-foot UCI Health Center for Advanced Care, which will include adult primary and specialty care services, comprehensive laboratory and radiology facilities, imaging services and urgent care. Children and adults will benefit from one-stop outpatient medical care because so many of their needs will addressed at a single facility.
- The Center for Children’s Health, which will provide comprehensive pediatric outpatient services, including pediatric primary care, subspecialty clinics, rehabilitation and simulation services. In addition, the facility will advance UCI's longstanding commitment to the region’s autism community when the Center for Autism & Neurodevelopmental Disorders relocates there.