Kaiser Permanente to Revamp San Francisco Hospital Campus

Kaiser Permanente is plotting a redevelopment of its San Francisco footprint with a new hospital that would replace its decades-old Geary Boulevard campus and expand its presence in the city.

The nonprofit health system plans to build a roughly 623,000-square-foot hospital with 300 private beds across the street from its existing medical center in the Anza Vista neighborhood, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The project would mark Kaiser’s first new hospital in the city in more than 70 years.

If approved, the new hospital would rise across the street at Geary and Divisadero by 2033. Once complete, the current Kaiser San Francisco Medical Center hospital at 2425 Geary Boulevard would be converted into medical offices. The existing hospital would remain fully operational during construction, and Kaiser’s two other locations in San Francisco in Mission Bay and the Inner Richmond would be unaffected.

The proposal represents a sizable upgrade in both scale and configuration. Kaiser’s current facility spans about 367,000 square feet and includes 239 semi-private beds. The new hospital would increase capacity to 300 private beds, expand the emergency department and include a new parking structure nearby at 350 St. Joseph’s Avenue.

Kaiser expects to submit plans to the city by the end of May, with approvals and public hearings stretching into 2028, according to the Chronicle. Construction could begin in the second half of that year. The project still requires approval from local officials and the state’s Department of Health Care Access and Information. A total cost estimate has yet to be determined.

Neighborhood feedback has been mixed. At a community meeting on Monday, some residents raised concerns that the proposed 14-story height, up from the current nine stories, would create potential shadows and street-level wind impacts, according to the Chronicle. Others backed the plan, arguing it could better activate underused parcels and spur new investment in the area.

Kaiser Permanente, based in Oakland, serves 12.6 million patients in nine states and the District of Columbia, including approximately 245,000 in San Francisco.

— Chris Malone Méndez