SAN JOSE, Calif. — A brand-new Kaiser hospital in San Jose could begin construction next year, the centerpiece of the healthcare organization’s plans to replace a 50-year-old medical center and revamp an adjacent campus.

Kaiser Permanente plans to develop a modern hospital at its south San Jose medical campus, documents on file with San Jose officials show. The new hospital would replace the existing medical center that was built in 1974.

San Jose city officials are circulating a draft environmental impact report that sketches out some of the details involved in the project that would dramatically increase the size of the main hospital at Kaiser’s San Jose Medical Center Campus near the corner of Santa Teresa Boulevard and Cottle Road.

“Given the age of the hospital structure, advancements in medical technology, and changes to service delivery models, Kaiser Permanente has determined that a hospital replacement would most effectively enable successful provision of services to members with limited service disruptions,” the environmental impact report states.

The circulation of the environmental impact report is a key milestone of an intricate city review process for this major San Jose project.

After the new medical center goes into service at 250 Hospital Parkway, Kaiser intends to demolish the existing hospital, which totals 250,000 square feet.

The new six-story hospital would total 685,000 square feet. That means the new medical center would be much more than twice the size of the current hospital. The new hospital will be located in a section of the campus that now consists primarily of surface parking lots.

Santa Teresa Boulevard, Cottle Road, Hospital Parkway, International Circle and Camino Verde Drive are the streets that bound the site of the future hospital, plans on file at San Jose City Hall show.

In recent years, the surface parking lot accommodated temporary tents where Kaiser members could receive COVID-19 vaccinations.

Kaiser is under a deadline — as is the case with some other hospitals in California — to ensure that its major medical centers comply with state seismic regulations.

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