Hoag Hospital Irvine recently completed its $1.2 billion Sun Family Campus expansion along Sand Canyon Avenue. The newly opened campus features six new buildings, adding 155 inpatient beds and 11 operating rooms to the facility.
Guiding the design and development was a principle described as “science-based hospitality” by Marcy Brown, Hoag’s senior vice president and chief operations officer. Brown stated, “Science-based hospitality – that was our true north when we designed the buildings.” This philosophy, combined with an inspiration drawn from master-planned spaces like the Irvine Spectrum Center and the Villages of Irvine, led to a “wellness village concept” rather than a traditional multi-story hospital tower. This design allows each floor to function as a largely self-contained care unit.
The new women’s health pavilion features an embracing curved architecture designed to welcome patients. Within this three-story building, services include an OBG emergency room, a comprehensive breast care center, and private birthing suites. These suites are equipped with walk-in showers featuring rainfall showerheads and birthing tubs. Expectant parents can also stream entertainment services on in-room screens to help manage stress.
Next to the women’s health pavilion is a new cancer and digestive care center. This facility offers private infusion rooms, on-site labs, and dedicated urgent care services. For patient convenience and discretion, cancer patients can use an underground tunnel to move between the legacy hospital and the new specialty hospital. Throughout the new pavilions, individual patient digital boards have been installed as an upgrade from traditional whiteboards, providing instantaneous tracking of vital signs, care providers, and other patient information.
Other additions to the campus include a pavilion for advanced surgical procedures, which opened in May, and a laboratory and logistics pavilion. The campus also features a rebuilt legacy hospital entrance, completed last year, which now resembles a luxurious hotel lobby. Beyond the interior amenities, three meditation gardens offer outdoor spaces intended for respite and contemplation for patients, visitors, and staff. Brown remarked that the entire campus functions as a garden.
The development of the campus was also informed by the underlying philosophy of Hoag President and CEO Robert Braithwaite, who frequently asks, “What’s best for the patient?” The construction of the expansion took two years, following the launch of the “Boldly Hoag” fundraising campaign in 2022.
