By Dan Hounsell

Healthcare organizations are under constant pressure to grow and evolve in order to survive in a highly competitive industry, and a growing number of new construction projects in healthcare look to tap into the potential that exists in research. 

The University of California San Francisco (UCSF) will design a new state-of-the-art research and academic building, as well as make extensive site improvements to create a more welcoming environment, as part of the first phase of projects to revitalize its century-old Parnassus Heights campus, the university announced.

The University of California Board of Regents’ Finance and Capital Strategies Committee recently approved $32 million to start design work on the Parnassus Research and Academic Building and other campus improvements. 

The new UCSF Helen Diller Medical Center at Parnassus Heights, as well as the research and teaching building, are part of the initial-phase of the Comprehensive Parnassus Heights Plan, a 30-year vision approved by the UC Regents in January to strengthen UCSF’s status as one of the top academic medical centers in the country and an anchor institution in San Francisco.