REGION — UC San Diego Health completed the purchase of Alvarado Hospital Medical Center from Prime Healthcare on Monday, adding the 302-bed medical facility to its network of clinics and hospitals.
“We are grateful to all the teams who contributed to this milestone merger with UC San Diego Health,” said Patty Maysent, CEO of UCSD Health. “Together, we start a new chapter to expand access to needed medical and surgical care in eastern San Diego. This is a unique opportunity to create a more robust community-oriented model of care while increasing access to the nationally recognized care of UC San Diego Health.”
The university hospital system purchased Alvarado Hospital for $200 million. Re-named UC San Diego Health East Campus Medical Center, the facility is located at 6655 Alvarado Road, and offers a new emergency department, remodeled intensive care unit and expanded behavioral health services, according to UCSD Health.
“Over the last decade, UC San Diego Health has grown exponentially, dramatically expanding access to health services in response to unprecedented demand,” said UCSD Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla. “We are strategically acquiring and building facilities, addressing short and long-term public health needs of our community and connecting more patients with high-quality care for the benefit of the entire region.”
According to hospital leaders, one of the first priorities at the newly acquired campus will be the expansion of behavioral health services and a dedicated behavioral health patient care tower, in future collaboration with the county.
“Behavioral health care services at East Campus Medical Center will move to a centralized model to provide a desperately needed continuum of comprehensive care for patients in the region, with fully integrated, interventional psychiatric services offered in both the inpatient and outpatient settings,” said Dr. Jeff Daskalakis, chair of the Department of Psychiatry at UCSD School of Medicine and psychiatrist at UCSD Health.
“This model of care will address the regional shortage of acute psychiatric beds and also allow for additional training sites for medical students, therapy trainees, residents, advanced practice providers and physician fellows,” Daskalakis said.
UC San Diego Health also recently partnered with Tri-City Medical Center in Oceanside to help bolster services at the financially struggling hospital.
Under the partnership, UC San Diego Health will take over Tri-City’s property, debt and staff, and will form a new, nine-member governing board comprised of two appointees from the District Board, two members from the Tri-City medical staff and five members appointed by the UC San Diego Health Executive Governing Board.
The health care system plans to invest $170 million in its first two years of the Tri-City partnership.
The Coast News contributed to this report.
