On Thursday, Jan. 21, the University of California Board of Regents approved construction for the $1 billion UCI Medical Center Irvine-Newport project, which is now scheduled to break ground later this year.  

This is a major milestone for the UCI Medical Center Irvine-Newport, which will become a state-of-the-art medical campus, featuring a 144-bed acute care medical facility.  

The UC Irvine Medical Center Irvine-Newport will also become the home of the Center for Children’s Health, and will also be designed to offer urgent care and emergency services.

Construction will begin in late 2021, beginning with UCI Health Center for Advanced Care, which will eventually be the location for the Center for Children’s Health.

Slated for completion in 2025, the UCI Medical Irvine-Newport complex will become Irvine’s third large medical installment since 2019, including the City of Hope’s first Orange County-based cancer care facility, along with UCI’s Center for Advanced Care.

UC Chancellor Howard Gillman said the addition of the Irvine-Newport medical center will not only bring more robust medical care to Orange County, but further institute Irvine as a central location for providing the highest caliber of academic institutions that will inspire medical students for generations.

“With today’s approval by the regents, UCI takes a giant leap toward fulfilling the visionary expansion of our campus and enhancing service to the community,” Gillman said. “Once this project is completed, the UCI healthcare system will be unparalleled in this region, with two advanced medical centers, nationally recognized research units conducting hundreds of clinical trials, and a network of community locations stretching to all corners of Orange County.”

Spanning more than 800,000 square-feet, the UCI Medical Center Irvine-Newport and UCI Health Center for Advanced Care are the final building blocks to UCI’s Presidential Gateway, a 202-acre project within the San Joaquin Marsh Reserve.

A new video, posted on the UCI Health YouTube page gives a detailed look into the future of UCI Medical Center Irvine-Newport in Irvine.

Chad Lefteris, CEO of UCI Health, said that the combination of exceptional patient care, the most advanced technology, an accessible location, and proximity to research and innovation will truly benefit the residents of coastal and southern Orange County.

“No other health system in the county is powered by one of the world’s finest academic research institutions: the University of California,” he said. “Our goal is to make this expertise easily available to everyone in Orange County.”

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