Scripps Health announced Monday it is moving forward with a plan to build a new medical center in the San Marcos area.
According to a press release, the Scripps San Marcos Medical Center campus will be located on a 13-acre site south of State Route 78, near Twin Oaks Valley Parkway. The project's first phase is a comprehensive ambulatory care facility, while phase two will be the acute care hospital.
Scripps Health says it has owned the San Marcos property for 35 years, but now is the right time to build.
“Our patient population in the area has since grown to the point that it made sense for us to move forward," says Scripps Health CEO Chris Van Gorder. "Scripps provides care to many residents of the San Marcos region today and this campus will expand access and make care more convenient for these patients and their families.”
In 1990, the healthcare company bought about 80 acres of land in San Marcos as it planned to build a campus "at some time in the future." In the early 2000s, Scripps enlisted the help of H.G. Fenton to collaborate with Scripps and the city about the best use for the land.
The press release says Scripps kept ownership of 13 acres for a future development: The Scripps San Marcos Medical Center Campus.
According to Scripps, its management team has worked over the last four years to create the site's master plan, conducting necessary studies along the way that needed board approval. Earlier in March, the Scripps Health Board of Trustees approved facility plans for the North County area, including the San Marcos campus
The release states that progress has already started on the development, including grading, roads and multiple underground utility stubs.
The ambulatory care facility will include multi-specialty and primary care physician offices, ambulatory surgery, cancer care, complex imaging, laboratory and more services.
The hospital that's part of phase two is projected to have between 200 to 250 beds for acute care, giving a broad range of inpatient and outpatient hospital services. Scripps says it will work with San Marcos and the state, which reviews hospital building.
San Marcos Mayor Rebecca Jones says Scripps' investment in San Marcos is a boon for the city.
“We have worked hard to become a premier health care hub in the region, which not only supports a strong local economy but contributes to the ultimate goal of making San Marcos a place where people live long, healthy lives," Jones says.
Scripps did not provide an estimated project completion date in its press release.
