A decade ago, 131 patients became the first to set foot in the new $1.5 billion, state-of-the-art UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay. Welcomed by balloons, party horns and smiling UCSF Health staff and clinicians, the arrival of both adults and children at the hospitals’ opening marked a new chapter for UCSF, the city and the tens of thousands of patients who have followed in their footsteps.
When it opened in early 2015, the complex represented San Francisco’s first new hospitals in 30 years. Mission Bay’s crumbling railyards and large dirt lots had given way to four new medical facilities: UCSF Betty Irene Moore Women’s Hospital, UCSF Bakar Cancer Hospital, the UCSF Ron Conway Family Gateway Medical Building and the city’s first standalone children’s hospital – UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital San Francisco.
It was a dream that was more than a decade in the making.
“When we opened our doors in February 2015, our vision was clear: to create a healing environment that puts patients first, brings world-class expertise closer to those who need it and ensures that everyone, regardless of background, has access to the highest quality care,” said Suresh Gunasekaran, UCSF Health president and chief executive officer.