El Camino Health is looking to give its Los Gatos campus a full reboot, filing plans for a roughly $1 billion, all-electric hospital that would rise next to the current site on Pollard Road. The proposal calls for a modern, 344,000-square-foot facility with private rooms, expanded emergency services and new specialty programs, while the existing 1962-era hospital stays open during construction. Hospital leaders say the current building, which has about 143 beds, no longer meets state seismic standards and needs a complete rebuild. If the approval process stays on track, El Camino estimates the new facility could open around 2032.
What El Camino Has Filed
In a press release, El Camino Health said it has submitted an application to the Town of Los Gatos seeking approval to rebuild its El Camino Health Los Gatos Hospital, replacing the existing structure with a purpose-built acute care campus and keeping inpatient and emergency services operating throughout the project. The health system says the new campus would be all-electric and designed to grow surgical, heart-and-vascular and maternal services for Los Gatos and nearby communities. El Camino emphasizes that constructing the new building next door would allow continuous operations so patients would not need to be shifted to other hospitals during construction, according to the announcement. El Camino Health published details of the filing yesterday.
What The Proposal Includes
The Mercury News reported that the draft plans outline a roughly 344,000-square-foot campus with 122 single-occupancy patient rooms, an expanded emergency department with 25 bays, two operating rooms and a Level III neonatal intensive care unit. The health system is also proposing a strengthened heart-and-vascular program that would feature interventional cardiology and increased surgical capacity. The projected cost for the build is about $1 billion, and the outlet notes that El Camino expects the new center could open around 2032 if approvals and environmental reviews stay on schedule. The Mercury News provided the first detailed reporting on the filing.
Officials' Statements
El Camino leaders are pitching the project as both a clinical upgrade and a community investment. In a statement via El Camino Health, Dr. Alan Muster said, “This rebuild represents the next chapter of El Camino Health’s commitment to combining personal, community-focused medicine with clinical innovations and medical excellence.” CEO Dan Woods added that healing environments should feel human, connected and welcoming, while delivering the most advanced care for patients, and described the filing as an important milestone for Los Gatos, Campbell and surrounding communities.
Seismic Standards And What They Mean
El Camino says the existing Los Gatos hospital building, which opened in 1962, does not meet state-mandated seismic requirements, and that this is a key reason for pursuing a full replacement. California’s hospital seismic rules, created under SB 1953 and overseen by the state office that regulates hospital construction, require facilities to be retrofitted or rebuilt so they can remain functional after major earthquakes. Analysts and hospital planners have long pointed to those rules as a major factor behind the wave of Bay Area hospital rebuilds. A review of seismic policy literature explains SB 1953’s long-term timeline for upgrades and why systems are now moving to retrofit or replace older campuses. NCBI outlines the law and its impact.
Next Steps And Local Review
The application now heads into the town’s planning and environmental review pipeline, which typically involves staff reports, public notices and hearings before both the Planning Commission and the Town Council. Town materials explain that staff reports and agendas are posted ahead of meetings and that neighbors can weigh in during public hearings. Construction is still years away at best. The project team and town planners will first need to complete environmental studies and design reviews before any permits are issued. For background on how that process works, the town offers a public guide to Planning Commission meetings.
The Bigger Picture
El Camino’s Los Gatos plan lands in the middle of a broader national surge in large-scale hospital construction, as systems respond to seismic mandates, modern care models and steadily rising building costs. Industry trackers list multiple hospital projects topping $1 billion in 2026, reflecting changing expectations around private rooms, technology-rich care spaces and more resilient facilities. Local residents can expect long-term construction impacts if the project moves forward, along with a sizable expansion in the town’s health care footprint and a wave of jobs tied to the build phase. Becker's Hospital Review offers a roundup of similar projects.
For now, El Camino’s filing marks the start of what is likely to be months of review, debate and public meetings in Los Gatos. Town staff and elected officials will be weighing traffic, parking, noise and neighborhood impacts as they decide whether to clear the way for a brand-new hospital campus.
