The Future
At A Glance
We’re growing! In recent years, Kaweah Delta has provided an increasingly
complex level of services to record numbers of inpatient, outpatient and
emergency department visitors. Surgical, medical, cardiology, oncology
and Emergency Department services at the downtown campus have grown significantly
due to increased population and the closure of several smaller area hospitals.
Here’s a look at how we are growing to better serve our community
in the future.
New Acute Care Hospital
Kaweah Delta is in the process of planning for a new acute care hospital.
There are three key points you should know as we continue to study the
project scope and costs associated with building a new acute care hospital by 2030.
- California requires that all acute care hospitals meet strict earthquake
safety requirements. Our hospital, built almost 50 years ago, does not
meet these stringent standards.
- Kaweah Delta needs to replace the 50-year-old hospital with a new acute
care hospital to be able to offer emergency life-saving care, handle the
increasing number of patients, and retain quality nurses and doctors.
- The new hospital will require multiple funding sources including: hospital
cash reserves, revenue and general obligation bonds, state and federal
grants, and fund raising.
As soon as there is more information on planning for this new acute care
hospital, we will provide an update so that we can approach this issue
together in the interest of best serving our community.
Hospital Expansion
In response to this demand, we are exploring ways to create more areas
to start the medical screening process for patients in our emergency department,
possibly by expanding our triage area into the ED waiting room. We are
also actively planning for the expansion of our emergency department,
as well as the expansion and modernization of our Neonatal Intensive Care
Unit (NICU), and the completion of the fifth and sixth floors of the Acequia
Wing. This expansion will add an additional 48 beds to the medical center’s
current inpatient capacity of 404 beds.
Second Urgent Care
Our emergency department and urgent care center are operating at near capacity.
In response to this demand, we are exploring a second urgent care location
in northwest Visalia, where we can better serve people who have non-emergency needs.
Kaweah Delta Medical Foundation
Planning for the formation of the Kaweah Delta Medical Foundation is now
underway. The Kaweah Delta Medical Foundation represents an affiliation
between Kaweah Delta and the Visalia Medical Clinic to provide integrated
health care to our patients; it is not a purchase or acquisition. Our
objective is to retain and recruit outstanding physicians to best meet
our community’s medical needs. The leaders and managers of Kaweah
Delta and Visalia Medical Clinic are meeting to begin a disciplined and
comprehensive process of due diligence and implementation planning. By
late summer, the Kaweah Delta Board and the Visalia Medical Clinic Board
will be provided a comprehensive update toward the formation of the Kaweah
Delta Medical Foundation, which is expected in the fall of 2015.
Graduate Medical Education
In an effort to alleviate what has been a very real physician shortage
in our County, Kaweah Delta is now fully accredited as a teaching hospital.
We now offer residencies in Family Medicine, Emergency Medicine, Psychiatry,
General Surgery and Transitional Year. When fully developed, these programs
will train 79 physicians on an ongoing basis - up to 50% of whom we expect
will remain in the community following completion of their residency.