Large Santa Rosa medical office building going up across from Memorial Hospital

Through the years, the property on Montgomery Drive right across from Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital has been home to a wide range of medical offices for doctors and health care specialists.

The space will now become a more centralized medical office hub under the auspices of the hospital’s parent company, with a four-story, 92,000-square-foot building scheduled to be completed by June 2020.

The goal is twofold: make it easier for doctors to meet with their patients who are in the hospital while also freeing up street parking through construction of a neighboring six-story parking garage for the complex, Tyler Hedden, the interim chief executive of St. Joseph Health–Sonoma County, said in a statement. Santa Rosa Memorial is part of the St. Joseph Health Medical Group.

“This new medical office building will become a flagship for the health care buildings in the area surrounding the hospital,” Hedden said.

The estimated $80 million project at the corner of Sotoyome Street and Montgomery Drive was expanded from the initial 70,000-square-foot proposal to better address the growing needs of the St. Joseph Health network, he said.

Patient convenience was a major factor in the design of the facility, with a six-level garage that will contain 600 parking stalls, including some with electric-vehicle charging stations. The garage will have a covered canopy over the walkway to the medical offices and there also will be a patient drop-off zone at the front.

St. Joseph Health already operates out of 60 locations throughout Sonoma County, including major office buildings near the hospital - at 1111 Sonoma Ave. and ?500 Doyle Park Drive.

The new building will provide offices for doctors, specialists and other outpatient services.

Work crews are completing the second and third floors, which will include doctor offices for 32 medical providers with 80 exam rooms and eight rooms for minor procedures.

Construction will subsequently take place within the first and fourth floors.

The first floor will house a main lobby, an advanced diagnostic imaging center as well as an urgent care clinic.

The fourth floor will be able to accommodate an additional 40 exam rooms and 16 providers.

The project was approved by the city’s Planning Commission in December 2017 and replaced some physician offices and a few small shops.

“The development of major projects like this would not be possible without the collaborative approach that is embraced by the city staff, builders and community,” Hedden said.

You can reach Staff Writer Bill Swindell at 707-521-5223 or bill.swindell@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @BillSwindell.