Kaiser Permanente Inc.’s new $90 million medical office is a 100,000-square-foot box of blue-green glass that soars over South Los Angeles.
The Baldwin Hills-Crenshaw-area project is slated to open Thursday, and the health care giant claims the building is state of the art.
“It represents the best, latest and most current of everything that Kaiser Permanente stands for, from the design elements to all the best clinical technologies,” said Eugene Cho, chief operating officer for Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles. “It really does represent transformational health care.”
Cho said the outpatient facility is the latest approach to managed care for Kaiser, as well as a community center rooted in healthy living. The office is on the edge of the Baldwin Village and Crenshaw areas and represents the eighth outpatient outpost opened by Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles, which serves 230,000 member patients.
As many as 60 doctors, physician assistants and nurse practitioners will serve 50,000 members from the surrounding neighborhood at the new facility, Kaiser said. Exam rooms are built to video stream virtual specialists from its West Los Angeles Medical Center.
Medical services will range from adult primary care to pediatrics, with physical therapy serving alongside behavioral health and health education classes. The facility will also include a pharmacy, medical labs and full vision care.
“We are excited to make high-quality health care more accessible to residents in the Baldwin Hills-Crenshaw community,” said Dr. Erique Emel, the outpost’s physician-in-charge. “We will be offering a full range of primary and specialty care services and other health amenities … as part of our commitment to building healthy communities.”
Outside the LEED Gold-certified building – designed by HOK and built by Turner Construction Co. – is 2.5 acres of green space that includes a two-mile walking path and event area open to the public. The 50-foot lobby is filled with natural light, and a so-called “thrive bar” will let patients plug in mobile devices and check out wellness tips.
Original artwork created within the Baldwin Village-Crenshaw neighborhoods will adorn hallways and office walls. A community room and exercise equipment will also be available to non-Kaiser members.
The facility sits on 8.65 acres from a botched redevelopment project known as Marlton Square, which fizzled in 2008 after its developer filed for bankruptcy.
“It was very clear that, from a health care perspective, this community lacked health care services for years and years,” Cho said. “Plus, it represented an area where there was a strong membership for us.”
The South L.A. medical office is the second location opened by Kaiser’s West L.A. division in the past two years. The health care giant opened a 20,000-square-foot outpost in Santa Monica in 2016, featuring up to 10 doctors in a leased second-floor office.
