SANTA ROSA - Sutter Medical Center of Santa Rosa’s preliminary environment impact review for a new hospital near the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts has been unanimously recommended for certification by the county Planning Commission.
The recommendation means Sutter’s drafted EIR will be forwarded to the county Board of Supervisors on Aug. 3, at which point the board will likely take a straw vote for approval, according to Scott Briggs, environment review division manager for the county Permit Resources and Management Department.
A tentative date of Aug. 24 has been set for final approval.
Sutter’s plan for the approximately 316,000-square-foot medical campus must also meet requirements spelled out in the Health Care Access Agreement brokered with the County Health and Human Services Department, which the Board of Supervisors will also consider on Aug. 3. The approval process for the EIR and Health Care Access Agreement are separate processes, and the Health and Human Services Department said it will hold hearings and focus groups between now and August on the matter before making a recommendation to the board.
“As we get to the Board of Supervisors, the two will converge,” Sutter spokeswoman Lisa Amador said. Sutter will be seeking permits from the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development for groundbreaking of the hospital in early October.
The new Sutter hospital must be under construction by this fall in order to meet requirements of Senate Bill 1661, which give it an extension to meet certain building milestones by December 2014.
Final approval from the county by August will permit Sutter to meet that deadline, Mr. Briggs said.
Should Sutter fail to begin construction, thus not meeting the criteria for an extension, its current Chanate facility would not be operable past Dec. 31, 2012.
“It’s moving forward,” Ms. Amador said of the new hospital, adding that the construction and completion of the medical campus would inject $176 million into the local economy.
“To build a new facility this big, in this market and in this community, is a huge economic stimulus,” Ms. Amador said. “It’s going to put people to work. Whenever possible, we will employ locally and buy locally. It’s significant, particularly given the economic climate.”
ROP=7/17/08/08
Slug/Verel
6/6/10 4:57:30 PM
© 2008 North Bay Business Journal
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tags - Sutter Medical Center of Santa Rosa, Health Care Access Agreement, Sonoma County Planning Commission, Permit Resources and Management Department.
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New Sutter hospital plan gets
key approval toward fall start
by Dan Verel
Business Journal Staff Reporter
SANTA ROSA - Sutter Medical Center of Santa Rosa’s preliminary environment impact review for a new hospital near the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts has been unanimously recommended for certification by the county Planning Commission.
The recommendation means Sutter’s drafted EIR will be forwarded to the county Board of Supervisors on Aug. 3, at which point the board will likely take a straw vote for approval, according to Scott Briggs, environment review division manager for the county Permit Resources and Management Department.
A tentative date of Aug. 24 has been set for final approval.
Sutter’s plan for the approximately 316,000-square-foot medical campus must also meet requirements spelled out in the Health Care Access Agreement brokered with the County Health and Human Services Department, which the Board of Supervisors will also consider on Aug. 3. The approval process for the EIR and Health Care Access Agreement are separate processes, and the Health and Human Services Department said it will hold hearings and focus groups between now and August on the matter before making a recommendation to the board.
“As we get to the Board of Supervisors, the two will converge,” Sutter spokeswoman Lisa Amador said. Sutter will be seeking permits from the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development for groundbreaking of the hospital in early October.
The new Sutter hospital must be under construction by this fall in order to meet requirements of Senate Bill 1661, which give it an extension to meet certain building milestones by December 2014.
Final approval from the county by August will permit Sutter to meet that deadline, Mr. Briggs said.
Should Sutter fail to begin construction, thus not meeting the criteria for an extension, its current Chanate facility would not be operable past Dec. 31, 2012.
“It’s moving forward,” Ms. Amador said of the new hospital, adding that the construction and completion of the medical campus would inject $176 million into the local economy.
“To build a new facility this big, in this market and in this community, is a huge economic stimulus,” Ms. Amador said. “It’s going to put people to work. Whenever possible, we will employ locally and buy locally. It’s significant, particularly given the economic climate.”
