Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF) San Carlos Center?
- What services will be offered at the PAMF San Carlos Center?
- Is PAMF just building a hospital?
- How is PAMF’s medical center different from a traditional hospital?
- Will the campus be open to everyone?
- Will the campus be open to community physicians?
- What is the economic benefit of the project to the City of San Carlos?
- How much parking is planned for the facility?
- What impact does the project have on future business development on the east side of San Carlos?
- What are some of the environmentally friendly aspects of the project?
- Who will pay for the project?
What is the Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF) San Carlos Center?
The Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF) is building a new medical center in San Carlos at 301 Industrial Rd. just off Highway 101 north of Holly Street. The medical center will include a full range of primary and specialty care physician services, an urgent care center, lab, X-ray and other testing services, as well as a full-service acute care hospital with an emergency room, all in one location.
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What services will be offered at the PAMF San Carlos Center?
PAMF will offer primary and specialty physician services, an urgent care center, laboratory, X-ray and other testing services, as well as a full-service acute care hospital with a 24-hour, seven-days-a-week emergency room -- all in one location.
The PAMF San Carlos Center will offer a full range of medical services including:
- 120 primary and specialty physicians for the community
- Urgent Care Center open after regular business hours and on weekends
- 24-hour, seven-days-a-week emergency room
- On-site laboratory, diagnostic imaging and other testing services
- Outpatient services, such as same-day surgery
- 97-bed, full-service acute care hospital with private rooms
- Hospital privileges for credentialed community physicians
- Education & other community benefit programs
- Same-Day Appointments: PAMF's Advanced Access scheduling system allows patients to see a primary care physician on the same day they call for an appointment.
- Electronic Health Record (EHRs): PAMF patients have an electronic health record that helps to prevent medication errors and ensures immediate access to important health information among patients’ doctors, nurses and medical staff members.
- Online Access to Health Information and Physicians: PAMFOnline enables patients to communicate electronically with their PAMF physicians and view key components of their health record online, request appointments and prescription renewals, access test results and more.
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Is PAMF just building a hospital?
No. We are building a full-service medical center with one component being a hospital. The PAMF San Carlos Center will provide a new level of patient-focused health care that seamlessly integrates inpatient and outpatient health care, reducing travel, wait times and stress for patients. Combining primary and specialty care physicians with advanced diagnostics, pharmacy, urgent care, emergency and inpatient care will provide "one-stop shopping" on a unique health care campus.
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How is PAMF’s medical center different from a traditional hospital?
We strongly believe in providing a full range of primary and specialty care physician services, an urgent care center, lab, X-ray and other testing services, as well as a full-service acute care hospital with an emergency room, all in one location.
Many people currently receive medical care from professionals who work in different locations. By providing all services in one location, the PAMF San Carlos Center will improve communication between physicians caring for a patient, reduce the risk of medical errors, allow better access to advanced technology and make health care more convenient for patients.
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Will the campus be open to everyone?
Yes. The PAMF San Carlos Center will be open to the entire community. For the convenience of patients, PAMF participates in more than 30 major health insurance plans, including managed care plans (HMOs), and also cares for Medicare, Medi-Cal and self-pay patients. The San Carlos Center’s emergency room will also be open to anyone needing emergency care. For a current list of participating health plans, visit www.pamf.org/physicians/healthplans.html.
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Will the campus be open to community physicians?
Yes. We are planning to have an open medical staff at the PAMF San Carlos Center. Any physicians who meet appropriate criteria may be on staff.
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What is the economic benefit of the project to the City of San Carlos?
PAMF and the City of San Carlos have negotiated an economic package through a development agreement that will guarantee the city more than $91 million over 50 years, including annual payments of at least $630,000 (a gross 7% return) from an endowment established for the City, with annual inflation increases. The PAMF San Carlos Center will also purchase supplies on a recurring basis that will generate a guaranteed $152,000 annually in use tax revenue, an amount that will increase 3% annually for the next 50 years.
In addition, PAMF has already donated $1.5 million to the San Carlos Educational Foundation and $1 million to the City to develop athletic fields and facilities.
Development Agreement Breakdown
- $61.4 million in guaranteed annual endowment returns
- $17.1 million in guaranteed use tax revenue
- $9 million to fund the endowment
- $1.5 million for the San Carlos Educational Foundation
- $1 million to improve athletic fields and facilities
- $722,000 in guaranteed use tax revenue from initial medical center equipment purchases during construction
- $500,000 in payments before the first payment from the endowment
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How much parking is planned for the facility?
There is a city requirement for 1,000 spaces, but we plan to provide 1,280 parking spaces. This will ensure that employees, patients and visitors have ample parking on site and do not park on streets near the project.
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What impact does the project have on future business development on the east side of San Carlos?
The PAMF San Carlos Center will be a visible and attractive San Carlos landmark offering world-class medical and hospital care for southern San Mateo County residents. The medical center will serve as a "gateway" development that could increase the attractiveness of the area to other medical research and development facilities, hotels and commercial projects that might not otherwise locate in the City of San Carlos. The addition of biomedical and high-tech enterprises would help diversify and strengthen the local economy.
Medical and hospital facilities, such as the PAMF San Carlos Center, also tend to be stable occupants that locate in a community on a long-term basis. Stable tenants contribute to community stability by providing services, jobs and educational outreach.
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What are some of the environmentally friendly aspects of the project?
PAMF knows the environmental impact of our medical center is important to the community. A healthy project design is also consistent with our values as an organization to provide patients with high-quality care in a comfortable, healing environment. In the design of the PAMF San Carlos Center, we are being guided by the Green Guide for Health Care. As a result, we are incorporating a number of green building practices into the design and dedicating more than 350,000 square feet of the property for open space, including landscaping and planted areas, providing a significant visual improvement to the area.
The preliminary list of items incorporated into PAMF's San Carlos Center include drought resistant plants, more pervious site area to reduce water runoff, green roof planting, solar window shading and more. In addition, the overall footprint of the campus, the amount of land on the site covered by buildings, has been reduced by 20 percent. Existing building materials on the site, including the steel framing and concrete, will also be recycled.
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Who will pay for the project?
The PAMF San Carlos Center will not require any taxpayer support to build. PAMF will privately finance the project from a variety of sources, including philanthropic support.
If you have additional questions, please feel free to e-mail or call 650-853-2965.
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