UC San Diego Health completes acquisition of Alvarado Hospital Medical Center

On December 11, 2023, UC San Diego Health successfully completed the purchase of Alvarado Hospital Medical Center from Prime Healthcare. The acquisition of the 302-bed medical facility greatly expands the university’s growing network of clinics and hospitals to better serve patients with safe, timely and equitable access to high-quality health care. 

“We are grateful to all the teams who contributed to this milestone merger with UC San Diego Health. Together, we start a new chapter to expand access to needed medical and surgical care in eastern San Diego,” said Patty Maysent, CEO of UC San Diego Health. “This is a unique opportunity to create a more robust community-oriented model of care while increasing access to the nationally-recognized care of UC San Diego Health.”

“Over the last decade, UC San Diego Health has grown exponentially, dramatically expanding access to health services in response to unprecedented demand,” said UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla. “We are strategically acquiring and building facilities, addressing short and long-term public health needs of our community and connecting more patients with high-quality care for the benefit of the entire region.” 

UC San Diego Health completed the purchase of Alvarado Hospital for $200 million. Re-named UC San Diego Health East Campus Medical Center, the facility is located at 6655 Alvarado Road, and offers a new emergency department, remodeled intensive care unit, and expanded behavioral health services which UC San Diego Health will continue to grow.

“We are thrilled to join UC San Diego Health and partner with our new colleagues in continuing our 50-year legacy of caring for the College East community,” said Kenneth D. McFarland, chief executive of East Campus Medical Center. “Together we are creating a shared future that will benefit new and existing patients, close to home.”

One of the first areas of focus at UC San Diego Health East Campus will be the expansion of behavioral health services and a dedicated behavioral health patient care tower, in future collaboration with the County of San Diego. 

Psychiatric care at UC San Diego Health is nationally recognized for offering specialized programs and evidence based treatments for mental health conditions, as well as implementing clinical trials and groundbreaking research.

“Behavioral health care services at East Campus Medical Center will move to a centralized model to provide a desperately needed continuum of comprehensive care for patients in the region, with fully integrated, interventional psychiatric services offered in both the inpatient and outpatient settings,” said Jeff Daskalakis, MD, PhD, chair of the Department of Psychiatry at UC San Diego School of Medicine and psychiatrist at UC San Diego Health. 

“This model of care will address the regional shortage of acute psychiatric beds and also allow for additional training sites for medical students, therapy trainees, residents, advanced practice providers and physician fellows.”

As part of its 10-year vision, UC San Diego Health is taking a systematic approach to improving timely access to its services and care. Already underway, UC San Diego Health is revitalizing its medical center campus in Hillcrest, where a new outpatient surgical center is scheduled to open in 2025. Planning for a new replacement hospital is occurring now. Simultaneously, new clinics are opening throughout the region.

About UC San Diego Health
UC San Diego Health is one of five academic medical centers within the University of California. It is a 1,101-bed academic health system with primary, same-day and specialty care clinics throughout the region. UC San Diego Health is comprised of UC San Diego Medical Center in Hillcrest, UC San Diego Health East Campus, and Jacobs Medical Center, Sulpizio Cardiovascular Center, Moores Cancer Center, Shiley Eye Institute, Koman Family Outpatient Pavilion and Altman Clinical and Translational Research Institute, all in La Jolla. For 2023-24, U.S. News and World Report ranked UC San Diego Health as the best hospital system in San Diego and among the nation’s best in 10 adult medical and surgical specialties.
For more information, visit health.ucsd.edu.