UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay Opens, Welcomes 131 Patients

With 40 ambulances, approximately 300 UC San Francisco staff and faculty, as well as 100 emergency medical services personnel, UCSF Medical Center on Sunday, Feb. 1,  safely transported 131 patients to the new UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay from its Parnassus and Mount Zion campuses.

The move day started at 7 a.m. on the UCSF Parnassus campus; later in the day patients also were transported from the UCSF Mount Zion campus. The last patient to be moved arrived at UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay at 3:33 p.m.

UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay

This state-of-the-art hospital complex was built with a focus on the patient experience every step of the way. Learn more

The new medical center also greeted the first baby born at the new hospitals, a healthy boy who entered the world at a little more than seven pounds.

The opening of the new hospitals was the culmination of more than 10 years of planning and construction of the complex, which includes UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital San Francisco, UCSF Betty Irene Moore Women’s Hospital, UCSF Bakar Cancer Hospital and the UCSF Ron Conway Family Gateway Medical Building.

The move day, itself, reflected significant planning. “Patient safety was our top priority during the patient move, along with minimizing disruption to our neighbors. We achieved both goals, thanks to the superb work of our medical center faculty and staff as well as our partners in the City of San Francisco,” said Mark R. Laret, CEO of UCSF Medical Center and UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals. “We have been looking forward to this day for some time, and the opportunity to start providing care in our new location at UCSF Mission Bay.”

The majority of patients who made the trip on Sunday were children, as UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital San Francisco moved from Parnassus to its new home at UCSF Mission Bay.

Close Proximity to Research Hubs

Strategically located on UCSF’s world renowned UCSF Mission Bay biomedical research campus, the new medical center puts UCSF physicians in close proximity to UCSF researchers and nearby biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies in Mission Bay and beyond who are working to understand and treat diseases ranging from cancer to cardiovascular disease to neurological conditions.

“Placing the hospitals on our Mission Bay campus underscores our commitment to driving discoveries toward patient care, ensuring that our world-class researchers are working in close proximity to our leading clinical researchers and physicians in the hospitals,“ said Sam Hawgood, MBBS, chancellor of UCSF. “They also will provide invaluable training for our medical students, the next generation of clinicians who will take care of patients at health care facilities across California and nationally.  

“Significantly, the move also frees up space on our Parnassus and Mount Zion campuses, which will allow us to enrich our medical programs for adult patients there. With the opening of the hospitals at Mission Bay, we now have integrated clinical care and research programs on all of our campuses, the critical factor that has contributed to UCSF’s local, regional and global impact.”

The UCSF Parnassus campus will be restructured to provide more specialized clinical services, such as transplants, and the UCSF Mount Zion campus will become a world-class hub for outpatient care.

“UCSF Medical Center’s new $1.5 billion, state-of-the-art campus in our City’s Mission Bay neighborhood will help improve the health of children, women and cancer patients,” said San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee. “This is not just a milestone for UCSF; this is a milestone for our City and our City’s health care industry, which is at the heart of our economy providing good jobs for our residents.

“Right before our eyes, we have seen the transformation of this underutilized railyard in Mission Bay into an epicenter where new discoveries and innovation in medicine are saving lives around the world. By working together with our great partner UCSF, and the many generous philanthropists that helped build these new hospitals, we will continue to ensure our residents get the highest quality of health care.”

Mission Bay Hospitals Achieve LEED Certification

UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay is among the greenest urban hospitals in the nation. On Jan. 28,  it was awarded LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold Accreditation, one of the first hospitals in California to achieve this honor. To be certified, commercial buildings must demonstrate efficient use of energy and use of sustainable materials among other factors that impact the environment.

“We are very proud of our LEED Gold Certification.  From the very beginning, we committed to sustainability and creating a healthful environment, beyond what the LEED standards required,” said Cindy Lima, executive director of the UCSF Mission Bay Hospitals Project. “This is another way we aimed to set a new benchmark for health care facilities.”

The medical center also includes 4.3 acres of green space, including one acre of rooftop gardens. A smart irrigation system that automatically adjusts water output according to weather fluctuations, and other water conservation innovations, are expected to save 4 million gallons of potable water a year. Designed with non-toxic materials, the hospital complex will use 50 percent less power than the average U.S. hospital.