South OC push for Providence, MemorialCare and Hoag could top $1B

HEALTH: Providence Mission plans $712M investment

Providence Mission Hospital is planning to spend $712 million over the next seven years to expand its operations in South Orange County.

The plan includes a new hospital building at its current campus near the San Diego (5) Freeway and Crown Valley Road in Mission Viejo. Also on tap are new urgent care facilities, in both OC’s southern-most city, San Clemente, and the newer community of Rancho Mission Viejo (see story, page 13).

“It’s a really big deal—it will be amazing for our community,” Providence Mission Hospital Chief

Executive Seth Teigen told the Business Journal. “I’m so excited about this.”

Providence Mission—one of three local hospitals run under the umbrella of Renton, Wash.-based healthcare system Providence—ranks No. 6 among OC’s largest hospitals, with $719 million in net patient revenue for the year ending Sept. 30, 2021, when factoring in both its main campus and an affiliated facility in Laguna Beach.

Providence isn’t alone among local hospital operators looking to expand their presence in South OC; two other hospital systems are also seeking to expand in the same market, potentially pushing new construction in the area past $1 billion over the next decade.

That figure doesn’t count multiple billions of dollars being spent a few miles north in Irvine, with numerous hospital projects, medical campuses and cancer treatment centers in various stages of development across the city.

Saddleback Addition

MemorialCare Saddleback Medical Center on Sept. 20 broke ground in Laguna Hills on an $80 million Women’s Health Pavilion

that it says will transform women’s healthcare in South Orange County.

“Our vision for the Women’s Health Pavilion is to provide a truly innovative and holistic approach to women’s healthcare for our neighbors and friends in South Orange County,” said Marcia Manker, CEO of MemorialCare Saddleback Medical Center.

“With the groundbreaking we want to be ready to meet the growing needs of the community and expand our capacity and research to deliver exceptional care to our community for years to come.”

MemorialCare Saddleback, located next to the city’s former Laguna Hills Mall site, is OC’s eighth-largest hospital, with $388 million in revenue for the year ended Sept. 30, 2021. It’s the largest local hospital run by Fountain Valleybased healthcare system MemorialCare.

The 40,000-square-foot women’s health facility, which is scheduled to open in 2023, will feature a “spa-like environment,” same-day appointments, short wait times and expedited screening results.

The hospital says the pavilion will feature offerings not available in any other Orange County medical center, such as the first integrated breast cancer clinic, featuring a breast oncologist, breast surgeon and breast reconstruction surgeon under one roof, along with the only on-site transition retail shop for patients going through cancer treatment.

It will also have pelvic rehab clinic with a dedicated pelvic floor physical therapist.

The pavilion will have specialists in oncology, women’s health, sexual health, obstetrics and mental health.

“It will be dedicated to all the specialties that a woman needs in every stage of her life,” Manker said.

Hoag Looks South

Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian this year opened a new urgent care facility in Monarch Beach in Dana Point.

“There weren’t any healthcare options there before” in need of health services, Flynn Andrizzi, president of the Hoag Hospital Foundation, the nonprofit arm of OC’s second-largest hospital, told the Business Journal last month.

The Monarch Beach facility could just be the start of Hoag’s push in South OC.

Hoag also says it’s planning to use a $106 million donation from the estate of Audrey Steele Burnand to expand its services throughout the country, with underrepresented communities in South OC a focus.

“Less than a decade ago, Hoag didn’t have any urgent care facilities,” Andrizzi said. “Now we have 15, and we are building even more.” ■