Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente received approval from the San Jose (Calif.) planning commission during a Sept. 11 meeting to move forward with plans to demolish its existing San Jose Medical Center and build a new hospital.
"Kaiser Permanente San Jose is excited about this new facility, which will provide greater access to high-quality care and medical services to our members and patients in the greater San Jose community," a spokesperson for Kaiser shared with Becker's in a Sept. 12 statement.
The project, which the health system shared initial plans for in February, would demolish the current 250,000-square-foot hospital and develop a new 685,000-square-foot hospital, central utility plant and a five-level parking garage, resulting in the addition of around 800 new employees.
It would also increase bed count from 247 to 303, according to project highlights during the meeting.
"The current hospital will stay operational, of course, during construction," Tina Wehrmeister, senior land use manager for Kaiser, said during the meeting. "The plan would be to demolish that structure in the future."
Another spokesperson for Kaiser declined to provide comment during the meeting on the exact cost of the project, but shared that it will be "hundreds of millions of dollars" and that the health system self-finances its projects.
The next step in the project approval process will be an Oct. 8 city council vote for the planning permit, a spokesperson for the city told Becker's.
Editor's note: This story was updated Sept. 13 at 2:46 p.m.CT.