Lillibridge helps LLUMC launch satellite

BEAUMONT, Calif., March 3, 2010 - With two separate buildings, four independent healthcare organizations and more than dozen different healthcare services - all consolidated in the client's first major satellite facility - plans for a new off-campus medical plaza in Beaumont were fraught with extraordinary challenges.

Today, however, those obstacles seem like a distant memory. Thanks to the leadership of Chicago-based Lillibridge, the new three-level, more than 85,000 square foot Highland Springs Medical Plaza efficiently integrates an array of outpatient medical services in a single beautifully designed location.

When executives of Loma Linda University Medical Center (LLUMC) decided to build two new facilities about 15 miles away, the project marked the first significant foray beyond the university's main campus. The new facilities would serve residents of Beaumont as well as the surrounding communities of Cherry Valley, Banning, Cabazon, Calimesa, Yucaipa and Oak Glen. The strategy was to better serve California's Inland Empire area- attracting new patients while reducing the need for current patients to travel to the main campus in Loma Linda.

The medical plaza - which had a projected price tag of about $42 million - was also a collaboration involving LLUMC, Faculty Practice Plan of Loma Linda University School of Medicine, Redlands Community Hospital and Beaver Medical Group, making it LLUMC's first major partnership with other healthcare providers.

With so much at stake, LLUMC executives recognized the need to work with an experienced healthcare real estate developer for the challenging, high-profile project. Lillibridge, one of the nation's largest healthcare real estate firms, was selected to spearhead the process working in concert with Greg Powers of Red Brick Consulting, the owner's representative.

"We knew this would be a complex project," Lillibridge Chairman & CEO Todd W. Lillibridge says. "But our firm has developed and manages millions of square feet of medical office space in more than 75 markets nationwide. There are few healthcare real estate challenges that we haven't already faced and overcome many times before. So we were confident that we could deliver an excellent outcome for LLUMC."

The resulting Highland Springs Medical Plaza is a striking two-building development that features a three-story, 68,300 square foot medical office linked to a one-story, 16,900 square foot surgery center with a dramatic two-story rotunda. Services include outpatient surgery, imaging, urgent care, radiation oncology, medical oncology, physical therapy, pediatrics, laboratory, urology, neurology, general surgery, orthopedics, physical medicine and rehabilitation.

The complex - which was designed by Lillibridge in collaboration with the prominent healthcare architect Reese Associates Inc. - also includes a healing garden designed to promote both physical and emotional healing. It includes water features, walking paths, meditation areas and plant materials that are conducive to and help promote the natural healing processes. Ground was broken in September 2007 and a grand opening was held in October 2009. The general contractor was Diffenbaugh of Riverside, Calif.

About Loma Linda University Medical Center

An outgrowth of the original Sanitarium on the hill in 1905, the present 11-story Loma Linda University Medical Center (LLUMC) opened on July 9, 1967. With the completion of the Loma Linda University Children's Hospital (LLUCH) in late 1993, nearly 900 beds are available for patient care, including at Loma Linda University Medical Center East Campus and Loma Linda University Behavioral Medicine Center (LLUBMC). Loma Linda University Health Care (LLUHC), a management service organization, supports the many programs and services provided by our 400+ faculty physicians. LLUMC operates some of the largest clinical programs in the United States in areas such as neonatal care and outpatient surgery and is recognized as the international leader in infant heart transplantation and proton treatments for cancer. Each year, the institution admits more than 33,000 inpatients and serves roughly half a million outpatients. LLUMC is the only level one regional trauma center for Inyo, Mono, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.