Kaiser Permanente Purchases Four Buildings in Hacienda

By George Walsh, Hacienda Network Staff Writer

Hacienda Drive Space will Help to Consolidate Information Technology Unit

Kaiser Permanente, a leading health care provider based in Oakland, has announced the purchase of four buildings at 4460-4480 Hacienda Drive. The buildings, formerly the home of PeopleSoft before its purchase by Oracle in December of last year, will be used to consolidate selected departments of the organization's information technology unit into one location while freeing up space at its headquarters in Oakland. The purchase of the property was completed this month, and Kaiser expects to complete the move by the end of this year.

"Kaiser has several key initiatives in our IT and facilities services construction divisions that require an increase in staffing," says Rick Ginley of Kaiser national facilities services. "We really have no more room at our Oakland headquarters and this campus will help us consolidate some of our IT units into one location where they can have more synergy. At the same time, it will give us space in Oakland to accommodate new hires that are coming on board. We are currently in what we believe to be the largest capital project in the history of the U.S., at least in healthcare, with our new builds. We're hiring a large number of people to meet the demands of our growth."

Kaiser Permanente has 25 new or expanded hospitals planned or under construction, including 13 that are seismic-replacement hospitals required by the state of California. Seven are new hospitals and five are expansions of existing hospitals. More than half of the construction projects will be under way by the end of 2006-2007. The total capital project cost for Kaiser is expected to be in excess of $21 billion through 2012 for hospitals, medical office buildings, other facilities and technology improvements. Kaiser Permanente provides health care to 8.3 million members in nine states and the District of Columbia.

Among the reasons for moving into the space formerly held by PeopleSoft are the campus' modern infrastructure and proximity to public transportation. In addition, Kaiser is undertaking a major IT project called KP HealthConnect, a nationwide information system that will combine patient records, appointment systems, registration systems, and business systems electronically to improve efficiency and make it easier for patients to receive services at Kaiser facilities across the country. To get the system up and running in the next three years as planned, Kaiser believes that it will be advantageous to have much of its IT staff on the same campus. Initially, Kaiser plans to have around 1,100 members of its IT units at the Pleasanton facility.

"We're thrilled about the move," Ginley says. "It's an opportunity for us to bring a large percentage of our IT staff together under one roof so that they can work together to support the information systems that benefit our members."

Photo: The courtyard of the four Hacienda Drive buildings will soon be teeming with activity as an expected 1,100 employees move in.

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