Sutter Health on Monday unveiled plans to develop approximately 1 million square feet across two healthcare campuses in the City of Santa Clara.

The not-for-profit healthcare system, in collaboration with the region’s 95-year-old Palo Alto Foundation Medical Group (PAFMG) and its 2,000 Sutter-aligned physicians and The Sobrato Organization, said it will renovate two large vacant office campuses to create a connected, regional healthcare destination.

Across these two campuses, patients will be able to access a range of integrated outpatient services — from primary and specialty care, to imaging, lab and diagnostic services, ambulatory surgery and more. Sutter Health said it will add “hundreds of new physicians, advanced practice clinicians, and employees” to support the expansion.

“Sutter Health is launching a visionary, future focused phased expansion plan in the heart of Silicon Valley and across our California region to improve access to patient care that is in high demand,” said Warner Thomas, president and CEO of Sutter Health in a statement. “As part of our continued commitment to expanding physician services, ambulatory and outpatient care in the Silicon Valley and providing a differentiated care experience, we’re working closely with our physician partners at PAFMG and development partner The Sobrato Organization to plan and open these flagship healthcare destinations across two connected campuses."

“Our goal is to address the healthcare needs of the region and tackle the challenges patients face when trying to get appointments and referrals by advancing a seamless and integrated care experience, attracting more primary and specialty care physicians to the area,” Thomas said. “We are also investing in programs and educational partnerships with West Valley-Mission Community College District to build the healthcare workforce of the future.”

In November, Sutter and The Sobrato Organization completed a 75-year ground lease with West Valley-Mission Community College District (West Valley–Mission) on a five-building campus located at 2811, 2817, 2821, 2831 and 2841 Mission College Blvd., now known as the Sutter West Santa Clara Campus.

A second lease for three buildings about a mile away at 2431, 2441 and 2451 Mission College Blvd. was signed in 2023 for what will become the Sutter East Santa Clara Campus.

The expansion announcement comes at a time when the Palo Alto Medical Group is adding physicians – nearly 300 physicians hired in 2023 and 2024 – with plans to hire “hundreds more” over the next five years.

“Our vision is to provide a full range of healthcare services to people in the Greater Silicon Valley, ensuring they have timely access to excellent care close to home,” said Kurt VandeVort, M.D., CEO of Palo Alto Foundation Medical Group. “As part of this significant investment in the region and in Santa Clara, we are poised to add several hundred physicians to these two campuses and enable our ability to care for hundreds of thousands of more patients by 2030.”

The Sutter announcement follows a plan revealed in June for a new care center in Morgan Hill – part of a broader initiative to open 27 new ambulatory care centers across Northern California by 2027.

Sutter also said newly accredited Family Medicine and Internal Medicine residency programs will launch in the summer of 2025, and said it will grow its Graduate Medical Education programs to train 1,000 physician residents and fellows each year by 2030.
“Through new academic partnerships, Sutter plans to foster new pathways to attract a broad range of high-caliber clinical talent reflective of the diverse communities it serves,” the system announced in a press release.

Here are the details:
The Sutter West Santa Clara Campus (approximately 700,000 square feet)will focus on specialty services and will feature four destination centers of excellence in:

• Orthopedics and sports medicine
• Cancer
• Women’s health
• Heart and vascular care

The campus will also house comprehensive diagnostic imaging, lab and testing services and other aligned and differentiated specialty clinics with plans to welcome the first patients as early as 2027, when services will begin to open in a phased approach.

The Sutter East Santa Clara Campus (approximately 300,000 square feet)will focus on comprehensive primary care, as well as specialty care services, an ambulatory surgery center and urgent care to ensure patients can get the best care in the most convenient and easy to access healthcare setting. Planned services include:

• Comprehensive primary care
• Specialty clinics (cardiology, neurology, urology, obstetrics and gynecology, ENT, plastics and general surgery, endocrinology, dermatology, gastroenterology and other procedural specialties)
• Advanced diagnostic lab and imaging
• Primary and specialty pediatric care
• Adult and pediatric urgent care

Mental health services will also be expanded in an ambulatory setting and integrated into overall care.

Sutter said the two campuses will be a phased project, with the first building on the Sutter East Santa Clara Campus expected to open in the latter half of 2025, and an anticipated investment of more than $800 million to develop both campuses, which will house several hundred physicians and advanced practice clinicians.

“We want each person’s experience to be the best and most personalized possible, supported by state-of-the-art technology and digital capabilities,” said Kevin Cook, president of Sutter’s Greater Silicon Valley division. “These two healthcare campuses in Santa Clara will continuously connect physical assets with leading-edge digital tools—including AI, telemedicine and remote patient management—all of which will drive increased patient satisfaction and improve access to care.”

Sutter said it anticipates the partnership with West Valley-Mission will accelerate the college’s workforce development programs, which today include an associate degree in nursing program, as well as programs for certified nursing assistants, licensed vocational nurses and registered nurses; a new bachelor of science degree in emergency services administration; and plans to develop a 70,000-square-foot STEM Center adjacent to the Sutter West Santa Clara Campus that will expand West Valley-Mission’s science, technology, engineering and mathematics programs.

“This collaboration embodies our district’s commitment to fostering innovation that serves both our students and the broader community,” said West Valley-Mission Community College District Chancellor Bradley Davis. “By integrating a premier healthcare facility with our academic environment, we’re creating unparalleled opportunities for students to engage in real-world clinical experiences while addressing critical healthcare needs in our region.”