In California, the decision to renovate an existing hospital or build something new from the ground-up isn't a solely market-driven proposition. It's also dictated by the requirements of SB 1953, which states that any hospital designed prior to the Alquist Hospital Seismic Safety Act of 1973 must be replaced, strengthened or changed to non-acute care use by 2030.
Degenkolb Engineers' Jay Love told attendees at Bisnow's San Francisco Healthcare event this week there may be a reprieve for some of the 700 to 800 remaining buildings built before 1973 in California if they are in good enough condition.
That could relieve some of the financial burden on those hospitals, he said. Due to soon-to-be enacted changes in the regulations, hospital buildings built right before 1973 may get to stay after some evaluation—he expects about half may be suitable for re-evaluation based on building age, size and location. If older hospital buildings can be shown to be seismically similar to post-1973 hospital buildings, they would be allowed for acute care use beyond the 2030 deadline, he said.
That would help areas such as the Central Valley, where there's a lower chance of earthquake damage, and in urban areas where there's not a lot of land available for new construction. Jay said such a reprieve could be crucial for medical campuses where the older buildings are the very heart of the campus and the site would not be able to operate as well with those services shifted elsewhere.
Senate Bill 1953, passed in 1995 following the Northridge earthquake, created a lot of construction in the past decade as many hospitals were replaced to meet the milestones for replacement of older, unsafe hospitals.
Kaiser VP Hollis Harris (right with Carla Collins Mixon of Signet Testing Labs) said her firm has spent the past 10 years building, rebuilding or significantly modifying 10 hospitals in Northern California. That's nearly half of the 21 hospitals Kaiser has in Northern California. There are still five more that are running up against the 2030 deadline, she said, and Kaiser is trying to figure out what to do about them, hoping some will qualify for renovation.
DPR Construction project executive Jack Poindexter says that renovating an active hospital includes working around the medical services going on in the building and infection control. He said it's a different skill set to handle a renovation versus raising a new hospital out of the ground. Here's Jack with John Souza of Barry Slatt Mortgage Co.
Jack said it comes down to putting together the right team for either situation. Renovations require a different mindset that involves being able to stop work or work around something, he said. It's a lot different than just construction, he said.
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