Widening the Breadth of Care for Children of the Bay Area

UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland is a safety net for East Bay children, and a regional pediatric trauma medical center with the resources to treat rare illnesses and health problems. In order to enhance the specialty services of its pediatric program, UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland had to expand.  But a dense medical campus, located in a residential neighborhood and pinched between a highway and public railway, meant no new land was available for a campus replacement.

As part of the hospital’s master plan project, which aims to modernize the campus, the design team, including our local partner Taylor Design, focused on working within existing constraints. A new outpatient center is the first portion of a multi-phase project that also includes several renovations to the NICU, PICU, PACU and rehabilitation space, as well as the construction of a new 72-bed patient pavilion.

The 89,000-square-foot, six-story outpatient center adds new exam rooms, treatment facilities and family support services to the adjacent existing outpatient center and brings advanced technologies and clinical space for specialty services in order to improve patient outcomes and standardize the flow of care, while also allowing for expansion of some inpatient departments.

Key features of the new outpatient center include:

• Patient care areas such as exam and treatment rooms are centrally zoned to allow departments to flex the use of the spaces according to demands, reducing the need for under-utilized spaces.
• The new facility increases clinical space by 30 rooms in multiple specialty areas and increases capacity of orthopedics by 20 percent. It houses a 17,000-square-foot rehabilitation center that offers a spacious physical gym, including an additional outdoor agility course.
• State-of-the-art technologies such as virtual reality, high-definition screens, and the latest diagnostic imaging equipment are included, as well as increased laboratory space allowing for life-saving pediatric research. The hospital is the first pediatric hospital in the Bay Area to implement virtual reality visualization for neurosurgery to help patients and their families better understand their conditions and treatment plans.
• The new facility functions as an extension of the existing outpatient center, across from the main hospital on the south side. The two facilities are connected by bridges on several levels as well as through the atrium of the existing outpatient facility at level one. The new building is connected to surgery and intensive care on the third level of the main hospital by a bridge over 52nd Street.
• Artwork by local children was selected and used as supergraphics in each exam room as part of a consistent brand and theming program managed by a local artist.
• While simulating the structural rhythm and proportions of the existing building, the architecture and details of the new outpatient center has its own unique identity and revitalizes the neighborhood with the use of multi-colored blocked façade.
• On floors with multiple departments, support spaces such as clean and soiled utility rooms are shared and centrally located to reduce walking time and to avoid duplication of spaces. Standardizing the size of exam rooms across all departments provides flexibility in repurposing the spaces in the future.
• Clear wayfinding was critical in the development of the new facility. Each clinic entry is easily identified by use of color and symbols. Patients and their families can access each new clinic floor from the main public circulation spine extending from the existing atrium.
• Strategic visioning sessions were held with staff, past and present patients, and the local community to mitigate concerns related to the expansion of the facility, uncover opportunities for amenities and services, and build consensus with the community.