Aug. 04--Medical giant Cedars-Sinai Health System is expanding to the tech hotbed of Playa Vista.
Cedars-Sinai officials said they plan to open a medical office featuring primary-care doctors and specialists in Playa Vista's central retail district late next year.
The Westside neighborhood is a key hub in Southern California's technology industry, housing offices for Facebook, Microsoft and YouTube. Google and Yahoo are in the process of opening offices there.
The 32,000-square-foot office will be at the Runway in Playa Vista. This new location will be staffed by about 24 physicians, and it will be able to treat an estimated 500 patients per day.
Cedars-Sinai said this expansion is part of its effort to bring care closer to where people live and work.
In California and nationwide, many big hospital systems have been pursuing a similar strategy by opening neighborhood urgent-care centers or acquiring physician groups in the community. Those moves can increase outpatient revenue and help supply a steady stream of referrals to the main hospital facilities.
"We thought it would be a great opportunity to bring Cedars-Sinai quality care to an up-and-booming community," said Thomas Gordon, senior vice president of the Cedars-Sinai Health System.
The Playa Vista location will support a wide range of services including internal medicine, urgent care, dermatology, and obstetrics and gynecology.
When completed, the Runway project in Playa Vista will include 220,000 square feet of retail space, 420 residential units and the Cedars-Sinai medical office.
