Questions, comments and concerns related to construction at UC Davis Medical Center should be directed to the Office of Community Relations’ 24-hour Hotline at (916) 734-5441. All of the information on this FAQ and much more, is available elsewhere on this Web site.

Q: What are in the construction plans for UC Davis Medical Center?

A: The centerpiece of UC Davis Health System’s 10-year capital plan is the Surgical and Emergency Services Pavilion. It will include a new emergency room, new operating rooms, a surgical intensive-care unit, cardiology services, a new cafeteria, kitchen, a pathology laboratory and radiology services. It will eventually replace the 1950s era North-South wing of the original hospital, which will be demolished to comply with a state law that sets seismic safety standards for hospitals. The three-story, 470,000 square foot building will wrap around the eastern and southern sides of the 14-story Davis Tower. To make way for the new structure, a number of buildings were demolished. The site infrastructure projects that relocated and rerouted existing utilities around the footprint of the new building, extended current utilities to the site and a new Doctor Way was completed in October 2004. The first increment, the foundations and steel structure began construction in November 2004.

Construction began on another large project, the Education Building, in the Fall of 2004 at the southeast corner of 45th and X Streets.

Q: What is the timeline for the project?

A: Preliminary site work for the Surgery and Emergency Services Pavilion has been completed. Major excavation began in late 2004. Steel erection began fall of 2005. The project is scheduled to be completed by September 2009.

The Education Building began in the fall of 2004 and is to be completed in July 2006.

Q: What rules will construction workers follow?

A: Construction will occur Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Contractor parking and material staging will be provided at an area on the east side of Stockton Boulevard, between Second and Fourth avenues, on the former site of the Sacramento Skills and Business Center. On-site storage will also be available adjacent to the construction site within the UC Davis Medical Center campus. All contractors and sub-contractors will be required to comply with all applicable University of California policies and procedures.

The pavilion construction site is in the center of the medical center campus and does not front the residential perimeter of the university’s property line. Most exits will be on X Street to Stockton Boulevard. UC Davis project managers will work closely with the contractor to ensure compliance with the contract and to minimize impact on the surrounding Elmhurst, Medical Center, Oak Park and Tahoe Park neighborhoods.

Q: Will this new building increase the number of patients, visitors and employees?

A: Because it will have roughly the same square footage as the older North-South wing, the pavilion is not an “addition,” strictly speaking, but a replacement facility. The hospital’s total bed capacity will increase by only 32, so there will be only a slight increase in patients and visitors. Accordingly, UC Davis does not anticipate hiring significant numbers of new employees to staff the pavilion.

Q: Will these new buildings add more traffic and congestion?

A: During construction, there may be some congestion on Stockton Boulevard and X Street. However, the medical center’s immediate neighbors will benefit from a major change in traffic routing once the Pavilion is completed. The new emergency response vehicle entrance and exit will be on X Street, within the interior of the medical center campus and away from residential streets. The new entrance will avoid use of V Street in the future, and will present a centralized public entry point for both UC Davis Medical Center and Shriner’s Hospital for Children. The contractors will use X Street and 2nd Avenue off of Stockton Boulevard to access the site.

Q: What can neighbors expect during the construction phase?

A: Once the construction begins, there may be occasional traffic rerouting to allow for specific, time-limited tasks. The construction Web site will provide advance notice and status reports. Again, contractors will be restricted to specific haul routes as defined in their contract.

Q: Is the Surgery and Emergency Services Pavilion the only new building planned for construction?

A: There will be about a half-dozen other major building projects under way at various points while the Pavilion is under construction. They include the Education Building near X and 45th Streets, expansion of the UC Davis Cancer Center, expansion of the Central Plant, completion of the final four shelled floors of the 14-story Davis Tower and renovation of the hospital’s East Wing.