Regents Approve Two Major UCSD Construction Projects

By Ioana Patringenaru I January 23, 2006

UC Regents gave the green light last week to spend $136.5 million to construct a new Cardiovascular Center and expand Thornton Hospital's emergency services on UCSD's east campus. The expansion will help relieve pressure on the hospital's intensive care unit, which is short on beds, and on the emergency room, which is short on treatment stations.

Officials expect to complete the project in December 2009. The center will be named after Richard and Maria (Gaby) Sulpizio, who gave $10 million dollars to the project. In all, about $30 million of the project's price tag will come from philanthropic gifts, another $ 41.5 million from hospital reserves and $65 million from debt financing

The Sulpizio Family Cardiovascular Center will combine patient care, clinical research and teaching. Emergency cardiovascular and stroke services will continue to be provided at the UCSD Medical Center in Hillcrest.

The new cardiovascular center will include 16 to 20 examination rooms, and related diagnostic and treatment services. The expansion also will add cardiac catheterization labs and other procedure rooms to the hospital, and includes 18 additional intensive care and step-down beds for the sickest patients, expansion of emergency room services, and four additional operating rooms.

Regents also voted to spend $5 million in state funds to plan for a new housing complex for transfer students. The facility would help house about 1,000 students and open in two phases in 2009 and 2010. The first phase, which includes housing for 500 students, carries a price tag of anywhere from $56 million to $66 million.

The new apartments will be located within walking distance of the Pangea and Hopkins parking structures on the university's north campus. The new housing complex will include units with two to four bedrooms in high-rise and low-rise buildings. The complex also will include offices and limited retail space, such as a bookstore and café. Each apartment will include shared bathrooms, a storage area and a space combining a living area, a dining area and a kitchen.

A September 2005 report about undergraduate students' experience at UCSD emphasized the academic advantages that come with living on campus, especially for transfer students, according to UCSD documents. In addition, students have become more interested in on-campus housing as housing costs increased in San Diego County, documents state.

The project also will help the university get closer to housing 50 percent of its undergraduates on campus, one of the goals of its 2004 Long Range Development Plan. This school year, about 33 percent of students live in campus residence halls and apartments.