Kaiser Eyes Temecula for New Hospital, Medical Center

Kaiser Permanente is eying Temecula for a proposed medical complex.

A pre-application has been submitted to the city of Temecula for a 1.2-million-square-foot medical center—including a 250-bed hospital—at the northwest corner of Date Street and Ynez Road near the border of Temecula and Murrieta, Patch has learned.

Details of the pre-application were not immediately made public by the city.

"A pre-application has been filed," wrote Patrick Richardson, director of development services for the city of Temecula, in an emailed response to Patch. "It is preliminary and subject to change. Kaiser has made no commitment to build at this point. They are in the information gathering stage."

A Kaiser spokesperson reiterated the medical care provider has not committed to the project.

"Kaiser continues to evaluate its services and the needs of the members of its communities," said Karen Roberts, director of communications for Kaiser Permanente. "The decision to build a medical center is based upon the needs of its members. There is not a commitment to build at this time."

The proposed location was described as ideal by Temecula City Councilman Mike Naggar, as it would be just off the French Valley Interchange, to the east of Interstate 15.

Naggar said the city has been in talks with Kaiser for “at least the past couple of years.”

“We have been talking, trying to attract a number of medical facilities,” Naggar told Patch Thursday.

According to Naggar, the pre-application filed by Kaiser means they are seeking comment from the city’s planning staff.

“With a pre-application, it pretty much lays out all of the city’s concerns and then Kaiser would have to go back and re-design the project...that would take about three to four months,” Naggar said.

It is possible that within a year and a half, Kaiser could return to the city for a series of public hearings before the planning commission and ultimately the city council, he said.

If the project were to come to fruition, it would mark the second such facility for the once hospital-less Temecula. The 140-bed Temecula Valley Hospital on Temecula Parkway should open next year.