New and Noteworthy Services

October 4, 2006

KAISER PERMANENTE BREAKS GROUND ON $300 MILLION PROJECT TO EXPAND MEDICAL CARE FOR SOUTH SACRAMENTO, ELK GROVE

Expansion would meet need for trauma services in south Sacramento County

Leaders from the region’s largest not-for-profit health care provider were joined by Sacramento County Supervisor Don Nottoli, Sacramento City Councilmember Bonnie Pannell, and Elk Grove Mayor Pro Tem Sophia Scherman at a celebration marking the beginning of the $300 million project on the 42-acre medical center campus, located at 6600 Bruceville Road.

Expected to be completed in 2010, the project will increase the size of the medical center by approximately one-third and add more hospital beds, a new outpatient surgery center and more parking. Patients needing life-saving treatment will benefit from an expanded emergency room – open to all – to help ensure access to critical emergency care. The expansion will give Kaiser Permanente the capacity to serve as a Level II Trauma Center, if approved by Sacramento County.

"We are excited to move forward with this expansion to better serve our communities," said Max Villalobos, senior vice president, Kaiser Permanente. "The population growth in the south area has been dramatic, and this expansion will allow us to continue to provide quality preventive health care and life-saving care to the communities we serve."

More south Sacramento County residents rely on Kaiser Permanente for their health care than any other medical provider. About 40 percent of the population in South Sacramento and 50 percent of Elk Grove residents receive their care from Kaiser Permanente. By 2010, it is expected that more than 230,000
people in these communities will be cared for by Kaiser Permanente.

"We care for more than 65,000 patients a year in our emergency room, making us the busiest in the south area," said Richard Isaacs, MD, physician-in-chief. "As a licensed community hospital, we are open to all. In fact, about 20 percent of those we care for in our emergency room are not members of Kaiser Permanente."

The expansion includes:

• Five-story hospital tower with 136 beds, including 20 new intensive care beds; increasing the current capacity from 162 to 290;
• Addition of 8,300 square feet to the emergency room;
• Two-story, 56,000-square-foot outpatient surgery center with six additional operating rooms;
• New 4,500-square-foot special trauma follow-up care center located near the emergency room;
• Heli-stop pad for critical life-flight care;
• 882-space parking structure.

Dr. Isaacs noted there is a strong need to add a trauma center in south Sacramento County, given that it is one of the fastest growing areas in the region. The expansion will make the facility capable of providing Level II trauma services.

"The addition of a Level II Trauma Center would greatly enhance our ability to provide critical, life-saving care to the South Sacramento and Elk Grove communities," said Dr. Isaacs. "Our expansion will put us in a unique position to offer quality trauma care in an area where it's greatly needed."

Kaiser Permanente's high-quality care is supported by a sophisticated electronic medical record system that integrates patients' medical information into a secure, on-line record, from the emergency room to the bedside. The medical center recently became the first Kaiser Permanente facility in the nation to fully implement the new system, known as KP HealthConnect. Physicians and care teams are provided with up-to-the minute health data, including medical images, physician orders and test results.

One of the first phases of the expansion project will be the construction of the 882-space parking structure, which will provide members with more convenient access to their medical appointments when it opens in 2008. Valet parking will be provided as a service to members while it is being built.

The expansion is part of $3.2 billion Kaiser Permanente is investing over the next decade to better serve its communities in the Greater Sacramento area. In the south Sacramento County area, a specialty medical clinic opened next to the medical center in 2004; the Elk Grove Medical Offices opened in 2003; and the emergency and radiology departments were expanded in 2001.

Kaiser Permanente is the region's largest not-for-profit health care provider. It currently provides medical care for more than 194,000 members in the South Sacramento and Elk Grove areas. There are more than 650,000 Kaiser Permanente members in the Greater Sacramento area.