Kaiser Permanente has begun construction on its $1 billion Railyards Medical Center, a transformative 18-acre medical campus anchoring Sacramento’s long-anticipated Railyards development. The project will bring thousands of jobs, expand health care services, and revitalize a site that has remained largely undeveloped since the 1990s.

Slated for completion in 2029, the medical center will feature an eight-story, 662,050-square-foot hospital with 310 private beds, a 70-bay emergency department, an intensive care unit, neonatal intensive care, labor and delivery services, surgery, imaging, pharmacy, and postpartum care. Kaiser’s Advanced Neuroscience Center will also be housed on-site, specializing in stroke and spinal treatments.

A five-story medical office building will include provider offices and exam rooms, alongside a 1,500-stall parking structure and a central utility plant. Once operational, the campus will employ nearly 3,000 health care professionals and staff. Up to 600 union workers will be on-site daily during the construction.

The Railyards development, one of the nation’s largest urban infill projects, has faced decades of cleanup, infrastructure challenges, and ownership changes. “This is a difficult, complicated, and expensive piece of land,” said State Senator Angelique Ashby, noting that local, state, and federal governments had to invest heavily to make the project possible.

Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty called the medical center a “major economic boost,” as it will transform the Railyards into a thriving job hub, much like it was when the Central Pacific Railroad dominated the region. The district’s revival also includes a planned 12,000-seat soccer stadium, a 3,600-person music venue, housing, and commercial developments.

Kaiser’s Railyards hospital will be one of California’s first all-electric hospitals, featuring solar panels, EV charging stations, and sustainable materials. It follows similar all-electric facilities at UC Irvine and Kaiser’s San Jose hospital, also opening in 2029.

Kaiser’s expansion comes as Sacramento’s population and health care needs grow. The provider is on track to surpass one million members regionally in the next five years, according to Dr. Roderick Vitangcol, Kaiser’s physician-in-chief for Sacramento. The new hospital will replace Kaiser’s Morse Avenue facility, which has served the region for over 60 years. Plans for that site’s future use are still being determined.