By Eric Schilt, MBA

When the new Troesh Medical Campus Hospital building was completed in August 2021, it signified the completion of “The Campus Transformation Project.” However, Loma Linda University Health’s (LLUH) mission is to continue the teaching and healing ministry of Jesus Christ. This requires ongoing strategic expansion of our education and health care services to best support our Loma Linda community and local region.

Therefore, LLUH has several exciting projects in progress. Most prominent and imminent among our new projects is the Children’s Health Specialty Clinics, which broke ground in January of 2025 on the southeast corner of Anderson Street and Barton Road in Loma Linda. Designed to expand critical access to specialized services and improve health outcomes for children, the new 105,000-square-foot, five-story building will provide care for 23 existing subspecialties under one roof. Exclusively for pediatric patients, this space will consist of hospital-based clinics, medical services, and surgical specialty services. This means that a patient with a complex medical condition, such as spina bifida, could receive care from a pediatric neurosurgeon, pediatric orthopaedic surgeon, pediatric plastic surgeon, pediatric urologist, and pediatric pain management specialist in the same visit, rather than traveling between six different clinic locations, typically over multiple days. This represents both an improvement in access to care and an enhancement in health care outcomes. “Consolidating the pediatric medicine services across the system means all services can be provided on the main campus. This will greatly improve the experience for the patients, the physicians, the providers, and our health care team,” Francis Chan ’94, chair of pediatrics, said. This project totals 149 exam rooms. By July of 2026, the building is expected to be substantially complete, with the first patient encounters anticipated in late 2026. The project is being funded by a state grant (Prop 4) and generous donors.

With the relocation of acute care services from Hinshaw Towers (formerly Cloverleaf Towers) to the Troesh Medical Campus Hospital, LLUH has been diligently planning how to utilize the vacated space in Hinshaw Towers most effectively. Some areas have already been repurposed. Notably, the repurposing projects include the conversion of the fifth floor of Hinshaw Towers into a pediatric inpatient psychiatric unit. This project will add 48 psychiatric beds to our existing Children’s Hospital license. Construction is underway, and the project is expected to be completed and operational within a year.

Also in the initial stages of design is a remodel of the ninth floor of Hinshaw Towers, converting the previous acute care beds to a pediatric sub-acute unit. This will add approximately 55 beds, a significant improvement for LLU Children’s Hospital’s continuum of pediatric care. This project is about two years from completion.

On the university campus, several exciting new projects are underway to help shape the university campus for the next generation of students. LLUH remains dedicated to advancing research. To this end, LLUH is working toward a new research center to house general research, cancer-focused research, and innovative new cancer treatment modalities. This would include Theranostics and Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT), as well as hosting clinical trials and supporting additional ongoing research. Due to factors including the complexity of the building program and recent variations in government-funded grant programs, finalizing the research strategy and determining the best physical environment to support it remains a work in progress, but a priority for the institution.

On the Loma Linda University (LLU) side, LLUH has two major projects underway. First, a School of Nursing expansion is to be located at the corner of Barton Road and Campus Street in Loma Linda. The building’s design is complete and will be submitted to the city soon. This project is expected to take approximately two years to complete. “The continued growth of our student body requires us to expand housing and academic areas on campus. In particular, we are nearly doubling the size of our School of Nursing enrollment and need to give them more space to maintain their quality educational programs,” Richard H. Hart ’70, DrPH said.

The second major LLU project is the University Village, a new on-campus housing and retail complex situated in the location currently occupied by the Loma Linda Market and the surrounding area. The University Village is currently in the design stage and is expected to be completed within the next three years. LLUH houses approximately 10 percent of its students on campus, with an increasing need for housing availability. The University Village will meet this demand by incorporating more than 300 institutional housing units, thereby transforming the campus. In addition to the housing units, the University Village will include retail space, filling an important need for community-focused space on campus.

In addition to these exciting developments, LLUH is strategizing and adapting to a dynamic political environment, ensuring we make the best capital investments for our organization and all those who rely on us. We encourage alumni to keep connected with the campus over the next several years as these projects come to fruition and transform LLUH.