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Palomar Pomerado Unveils Renovations for Hospital

Posted on: Wednesday, 20 July 2005, 21:01 CDT

Jul. 20--ESCONDIDO -- With most of the public discussion in recent months focusing on where Palomar Pomerado Health will build a new hospital, officials Tuesday unveiled renovation and expansion plans for the district's existing facilities on Valley Parkway.

The ambitious plan would include everything from urgent and ambulatory care facilities to retail and even housing.

"There's a great possibility here for so many different things that could be done," said Michael Covert, Palomar Pomerado's chief executive officer.

Palomar Pomerado executives presented their vision for the 14.5-acre Palomar Medical Center at a meeting of the district's strategic planning committee.

Many of the planned ideas for the $73 million renovation of the facility -- such as housing the district's administrative offices, and renovating and expanding the hospital's behavioral health program -- had already been mentioned at various times by hospital officials.

But the presentation also included planning for as many as 300 dwellings for hospital employees and seniors, as well as a new parking structure for downtown and street-level retail space. Covert said the new facility could even include a magnet high school.

Realizing that vision, however, would require the district to purchase an additional 4.5 acres, stretching the current site to Ivy Street on the west and Fig Street on the east. It would also require city approval to rezone some of the area and alter traffic patterns, according to Mike Shanahan, the district's architect.

Covert said that, while much of the renovation plan would be paid for through a $496 million hospital expansion bond, the district could try to court other health and private enterprises to offset the costs, or lease parts of the development.

Voters passed Proposition BB last November, allowing the district to build a new hospital and revamp the Palomar Medical Center, which was first built in 1957 and has had several additions since. The bond was sold as necessary in light of the state's strict new earthquake safety regulations for hospitals.

Since last spring, the district has clashed with some city officials over where to locate the cornerstone project of the expansion project: a new 496-bed hospital.

Palomar Pomerado wants to build at the Escondido Research and Technology Center, a business park under development on the west end of town. Escondido council members Ed Gallo, Marie Waldron and Sam Abed oppose that idea, saying the space be reserved for high-tech jobs, and that moving the hospital too far from downtown could have devastating effects on the area.

The trio wants the district to build on and around the city's public works yard, at the corner of Spruce Street and Washington Avenue.

"As opposed to being a ghost town," Covert said, "I really think it's going to be the opposite."

Palomar Pomerado will host a similar presentation of its proposed renovations at a public workshop on July 28 at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido. Hospital officials said they could ask the city for the necessary zoning changes to implement their plan as early as next month.

"Escondido right now is in the position to redevelop itself for the 21st century as a modern city," said Palomar Pomerado board President Marcelo Rivera.

That opportunity cuts both ways, as Bradley Burke, principal with Studio E Architects, which helped design the plan, pointed out.

Escondido, Burke said, is already in the midst of an anticipated renaissance downtown, with several condominium projects and a four-star hotel planned for the area just west of the hospital.

"With all that activity," Burke said, "as it comes down Grand Avenue, the hospital property is in a very strategic spot."

Discussions of where to locate the new hospital cropped up Tuesday, when the health district board considered the city's plan to build at the Spruce/Washington site in a closed session after the committee meeting.

Developing that site would require that Palomar Pomerado acquire between 24 and 44 properties -- most of them existing businesses --- depending on the scope of the project, according to Shanahan. He estimated the cost for those properties to be about $39 per square foot, or between $104 million and $135 million.

But he said the district was still in the preliminary stages of assessing the value of the land, nearly 17 acres of which is city-owned.

Joint temporary committees for the hospital district and the city will meet on July 26 to discuss the possibility of the Spruce site and the district's renovation plans.

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Copyright (c) 2005, North County Times, Escondido, Calif.

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Source: North County Times

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