By Bruce Barton

“Just Minutes Away,” reads 1957 campaign literature for a new hospital in the Mountain View-Los Altos area. The hospital approved by voters that year was El Camino Hospital, of course. The public hospital went on to earn a reputation for high-quality patient care and accountability to the community.

Despite a financial crisis in the mid-1990s due to a near-disastrous stint with an integrated delivery system, the hospital has honored the public’s trust with strong service and solid finances since its opening in 1961.

Forty-six years later, hospital leaders likely will be going to the voters again with a proposal for a general obligation bond to foot half the estimated $300 million in building costs. And, like 1957, supporters will be touting the hospital’s close proximity to the patient base.

“We’re about 10 minutes away from anyone within the district,” said Jon Friedenberg, president and CEO of the hospital foundation. Friedenberg, along with district board member Dr. Edward Bough of Los Altos, are leading the campaign effort.

Besides fulfilling a state mandate to have the hospital’s most prominent building replaced to meet new seismic requirements, leaders are excited about an opportunity to update the main building to reflect advanced medical technologies. They also envision a structure that will accommodate advancements for decades to come.

“The process has been extremely inclusive,” said Bough, citing a host of involved committees that include physicians, board members and other staff.

Lee Domanico, the hospital’s CEO and chief administrator, also described “a broad base of people involved, 15-20 task forces.”

The board of directors approved a site plan in December, which included preliminary plans for where the new building and additions would go on the current campus. The next step is schematic drawings from architect KMD (Kaplan McLaughlin Diaz) of San Francisco, due for review before the board this month in closed session. The drawings, which will detail the preliminary plans, are scheduled for public review and comment at the board’s April 9 meeting.

Bough said KMD is ranked No. 20 among the nation’s best architects, with significant experience in hospital work. The firm designed the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford.

Domanico foresees board approval of the financing plan including the bond proposal, possibly in July or August, if the process continues to go well. The bond would go before the voters in November. The outcome will also depend heavily on the city of Mountain View and its input on the hospital plans, Bough and Friedenberg said.

“We’ve completed a master planning phase of the development - the site plan determines where the new structure can be located, what parts can be renovated,” Domanico said. “The schematic design phase lays out individual parts of the hospital. This phase is set to conclude in April. Then the board would approve the schematic plan and authorize continuation of the next phase, a very detailed plan.”

Although hospital officials stressed plans at this point are still in their formative stages, the ideas on the table thus far include:

“We’re going to depend more and more on imaging modalities in the operating room,” Bough said.

Above the ER, surgical and radiological suites are proposed.

Friedenberg noted a poll the district conducted last year which showed emergency services remained a primary concern. The early plan pays great attention to the emergency room, and Friedenberg predicts the new project will improve its function. “We’ll be able to reduce wait times considerably,” he said.

Hospital officials, wanting to keep costs low to retain community support, have taken the unusual step of involving the contractor in the early design stages.

The contractor, Rudolph and Sletten of Foster City, is “crucial to the design,” Bough said, because the contractor can review the architect’s plans and provide realistic cost estimates that can inform the choices district officials make.

“The contractor will ensure we have a project that stays within the budget,” Bough said. “It’s important to appreciate that the primary purpose is to replace what the law mandates to replace.”

Following the Northridge earthquake in 1994, the state required all hospitals to be earthquake safe by 2008. Officials concluded retrofitting the old tower for seismic upgrades would cost only slightly less than rebuilding it.

Although aesthetics are down the list of priorities, Bough and Friedenberg envisioned an attractive campus with a “pleasant, nonurban look,” Bough said. He added that the architects plan to retain the current greenery of the campus. “The architects have identified every heritage tree,” he said, for preservation.

“We are very pleased with our goal of developing a healing environment that maximizes natural light and greenery as part of the environment,” Domanico said.

The $300 million projected cost, Bough said, includes a 10 percent cushion for cost overruns and inflation.

Besides the general obligation bond, which would tax properties in the hospital district based on assessed valuation, funding sources for the project include gifts from major donors, hospital reserves and a private bond.

Hospital officials are in good position to woo the public. Last year, the hospital reported the best bottom-line totals in its history, along with healthy reserves. The strong financial picture means the hospital can earn top credit ratings when officials move to take out a private bond.

Friedenberg said hospital officials will offer “a series of opportunities” for public comment and input in the upcoming months. If district residents pass the bond measure with the required two-thirds majority vote, construction would begin in 2004.

“We’re already doing a good job,” Bough said. “(With the new construction) we’re going to do even better.”