Mission Bay Hospitals Celebrate 10 Years of Impact and Care
How 20 acres of railroad tracks and vacant lots became the home of world-class care and health-sciences research.
Adecade ago, 131 patients became the first to set foot in the new $1.5 billion, state-of-the-art UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay. Welcomed by balloons, party horns and smiling UCSF Health staff and clinicians, the arrival of both adults and children at the hospitals’ opening marked a new chapter for UCSF, the city and the tens of thousands of patients who have followed in their footsteps.
When it opened in early 2015, the complex represented San Francisco’s first new hospitals in 30 years. Mission Bay’s crumbling railyards and large dirt lots had given way to four new medical facilities: UCSF Betty Irene Moore Women’s Hospital, UCSF Bakar Cancer Hospital, the UCSF Ron Conway Family Gateway Medical Building and the city’s first standalone children’s hospital – UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital San Francisco.
It was a dream that was more than a decade in the making.
“When we opened our doors in February 2015, our vision was clear: to create a healing environment that puts patients first, brings world-class expertise closer to those who need it and ensures that everyone, regardless of background, has access to the highest quality care,” said Suresh Gunasekaran, UCSF Health president and chief executive officer.
UCSF broke ground in 1999 for its new campus at Mission Bay, which stood for years as an abandoned rail yard.
Compassionate care, cutting-edge treatment
As we look to the future, our commitment
remains strong.”
Patient-centered care and innovation was baked into the design. New parents could welcome their babies into the world at the women’s hospital, assured that any special care for infants was just a corridor away at the connected children’s hospital. The pediatric emergency department and helipad provided ready access to children throughout Northern California who needed immediate, child-centered specialty care. The adjacent cancer hospital offered access to the latest clinical trials and treatments. And the complex’s four-plus acres of terrace and rooftop gardens provided families the space to pause and heal in nature.
UCSF’s Medical Center at Mission Bay was a boon for the city’s health and also a new global epicenter for medical innovation.
The Mission Bay Medical Center also allowed physicians to collaborate shoulder-to-shoulder with basic science and clinical researchers to develop cutting-edge treatments and cures as well as train the next generation to carry on UCSF’s unique legacy of physician-scientists.
Second to none in Northern California
Today, the UCSF Health hospitals at Mission Bay are ranked among the country’s top hospitals for their quality and safety. UCSF Health’s cancer care is second to none in the state, as are adult specialties like neurosurgery, geriatric care and rheumatology. Many of its programs rank in the top 10 nationally. Its children’s hospital – alongside UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland – is rated as Northern California’s best. The hospital’s newborn specialty care is among the top 10 in the U.S. Overall, nearly 20,000 surgeries were performed at UCSF’s Medical Center at Mission Bay in 2023 alone.
Meanwhile, Mission Bay researchers and physicians are tackling medicine’s most vexing problems, from cracking long COVID-19 to piloting smarter cancer treatments developed here.
Ten years on, UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay provides specialty hospital care to more than 11,800 patients per year, in addition to thousands of outpatient visits in the adjacent clinical facilities. This year, UCSF Health opened a new comprehensive ambulatory care facility across the street, the Bayfront Medical Building, which is expected to serve up to 131,000 patient visits annually.
“The Mission Bay Medical Center has set a new standard for patient-centered care. As we look to the future, our commitment remains strong,” Gunasekaran said. “We will continue breaking down barriers to care, improving health outcomes and shaping the future of medicine with the same dedication and innovation that brought us here.”
