Project Facts

Mills-Peninsula is ready to build the region’s safest, most technologically advanced hospital to replace Peninsula Medical Center in Burlingame.

The new $600 million hospital is designed to create a dramatic gateway to the city of Burlingame at El Camino Real and Trousdale Drive with extensive landscaping, enhanced view corridors, public art, walking paths and water features.

The main campus entrance will be at Trousdale Drive opposite Magnolia Avenue, with an additional pedestrian entrance from the El Camino Real portion of the site.

No New Taxes
Peninsula Medical Center must be replaced in order to meet stricter California earthquake safety standards by a 2013 deadline or close. As part of the not-for-profit Sutter Health network, Mills-Peninsula is committed to privately funding the new hospital without tax support.

Key features include:

  • Six-story (over one lower level), approximately 450,000-square foot general acute care hospital including an unfinished floor for future expansion.
  • Current hospital remains open and fully operational with no reduction in services during construction of the new hospital.
  • The new hospital is connected with an approximately 145,000-square foot office building with space for administration and hospital-oriented specialty physicians. Two floors, or approximately 40 percent of the office building space, is for Mills-Peninsula administrative use. The remainder of the space is designed to accommodate specialist physicians.

    This model represents a national trend over the past 10-15 years in many new hospital developments because it allows specialists to be more immediately available to patients throughout the hospital and in the emergency department, improving quality of care.

    Clinically Safe Environment
  • Seismic safety: The project employs an advanced engineering technology called base isolation that provides the highest level of seismic safety.
  • 243 beds in private rooms (with the exception of behavioral health, where socialization benefits of two-bed rooms is preferred, and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)).
  • No recycled air for improved patient safety.
  • Pharmacy located next to critical care nursing unit for increased patient safety.
  • Technology-ready facility with electronic patient charting and Internet-based capabilities for advanced patient/physician/family communication.
  • All medical/surgical patient care rooms equipped to accommodate higher acuity telemetry monitoring capability.
  • Emergency department enlarged by 42 percent to accommodate 50,000 visits per year (up from 35,000 visits).
  • Emergency department capable of providing trauma care.
  • Separate vehicle entrance road for Emergency department.
  • First-floor footprint locates Emergency department, operating rooms and imaging services together for optimum efficiency and patient care.
  • Helipad.

    Patient and Family Centered
  • Family sleeping accommodations in all medical/surgical, skilled nursing, obstetric, intensive care and neonatal intensive care patient rooms.
  • Nine meditation and healing gardens and walking trails for patients, visitors, employees and neighbors.
  • 809-car parking garage, plus additional surface parking with level access to the front door.

    Approval Process and Timeline
    The Burlingame Planning Commission and City Council cleared the way for the new hospital in November 2004 with a unanimous vote by the Council to approve the Environmental Impact Report (EIR), building design, rezoning issues and a conditional use permit for the project.

    The Peninsula Health Care District also unanimously approved a letter of intent that spells out terms of a new 50-year lease agreement to allow Mills-Peninsula to continue to use the publicly-owned land where Peninsula Medical Center now stands.

    The project was put before District residents in a special election in 2006; 93 percent of voters approved the lease agreement.

    The District includes: San Bruno, Millbrae, Burlingame, Hillsborough, portions of South San Francisco and Foster City, and most of San Mateo.

    Initial construction, including the garage and new Trousdale entrance, has begun. Completion of the project is scheduled for early 2010.