HCA Healthcare-affiliated Riverside Community Hospital has unveiled a $912 million expansion featuring an 11-story patient tower and a new parking garage, designed to increase capacity and bring modern, high-quality care to the Inland Empire.
Closing the Care Gap
Hospital CEO Peter Hemstead said the region remains “under-bedded,” with only 1.63 hospital beds per 1,000 residents, compared with a national average of 2.35. “This new tower is all about closing that gap and providing the best possible care,” Hemstead said. “It will give this community the access it deserves, both now and in the future.”
What the Tower Will Provide?
The 459,496-square-foot patient tower will be home to labor and delivery, postpartum, and antepartum units, as well as a pharmacy, radiology, and an endoscopy suite. The plans also include 220 medical-surgical beds and 54 intensive care unit beds. Three of the 11 floors in the tower will be shell space, allowing the hospital to expand with patient rooms and operating suites as needed—an approach consistent with other key healthcare construction projects across the United States.
Riverside City Councilman Philip Falcone (Ward 1) said the expansion is a milestone for local healthcare access. “This project is a vital investment in Riverside’s future,” Falcone said. “It means our residents can access the resources and specialists they need close to home.”
Building on Recent Improvements
The unveiling comes after a series of investments totaling $79 million since 2021. These include:
An expansion of the emergency room by 20 beds
A 35-bed inpatient unit
A 35-bed neonatal intensive care unit addition
New CT, MRI, and x-ray equipment
Renovated cardiac catheterization labs and support areas
A 34-bed surgical ICU renovation
A 25-bed telemetry expansion
Renovated ER trauma bays
Designed for the Future
Besides capacity, the new tower will also put Riverside Community Hospital in line with California’s 2030 seismic safety standards, which require hospitals to be fully functional following an earthquake. Hemstead said that constructing a new building was more efficient than retrofitting current towers. “This plan gets us to an earthquake-safe hospital sooner — and one that will serve the community for generations to come,” he stated.
This month, California has witnessed significant progress in hospital development, highlighted by the start of construction on UCSF’s $960 million Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland. Similar initiatives are gaining momentum across the country, including Centra’s new six-story care tower at Lynchburg General Hospital in Virginia, the $300 million expansion at North Dakota State Hospital, and Methodist Hospital Stone Oak’s $104 million vertical expansion, among others.
Project Factsheet – Riverside Community Hospital Expansion
Investment: $912 million
Size: 459,496 square feet
Components:
11-story patient tower
New parking structure
Capacity & Services:
220 medical-surgical beds
54 intensive care beds
Labor & delivery, postpartum, antepartum units
Pharmacy, radiology, endoscopy suite
Three shell floors for future expansion
Seismic Compliance: Meets California’s 2030 earthquake safety standards
