Eisenhower’s latest expansion plan approved. Here's what's coming to the campus

Eisenhower Health’s main campus in Rancho Mirage — already set to add a new cardiovascular center within the next few years — is poised to grow even larger, as the city council approved the hospital’s plans Thursday to build new memory care and childcare centers just across Country Club Drive.

The memory care and childcare centers, along with a new administrative building for the hospital, are planned for a 4.31-acre site located southeast of the main hospital campus on the opposite side of Country Club Drive. The facility plans include 136 on-site parking spaces, along with supplemental parking across the street at the main hospital.

Eisenhower’s existing Memory Care Center — an adult day center — is based in Palm Desert, but it has been closed since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The new memory care building will include classrooms, a kitchen, a library, seating areas and open space with a courtyard.

The new additions are planned as part of a $256 million capital campaign launched by the hospital in November 2021. Most of those funds, about $156 million, are for the new four-story Eisenhower Cardiovascular Institute, which was approved by the council in May.

The remaining money in the campaign is being raised for other facilities, including the new memory care center. Ali Tourkaman, a senior vice president and chief construction executive for Eisenhower, told The Desert Sun on Friday they are aiming to begin construction of the new memory care center in the first quarter of 2024.

With some planning documents for the cardiovascular office building currently under city review, Tourkaman said hospital officials anticipate getting the final permits and starting work on the larger project in January 2024.

Council cheers childcare center plans

The council largely cheered the plans, with member Ted Weill noting Eisenhower Health is the city’s largest employer, with around 4,500 people working there, making the childcare center “a great addition.”

Councilmember Lynn Mallotto also praised the proposed additions, particularly the childcare center, citing her own experience working as an x-ray technologist while raising kids.

“As a single mom, sometimes my schedule didn't always work with what childcare was provided,” Mallotto said. "This will provide reassurance and confidence to those parents that work long, hard hours. It's not all eight-hour shifts. They could be 10-hour shifts.”

The childcare building — which will only be for the kids of Eisenhower employees — will serve a range of children from newborns to 5-year-olds, and it plans to be open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The larger administration building planned for the same site will allow Eisenhower Health officials to move some departments, including human resources and marketing, from the main campus to the new facility, thus opening up more space for health care uses at the hospital across the street.

The council heard from just a couple people during the public hearing. Omar Cobian, a representative of the Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters union, encouraged the hospital to use a contractor with an apprenticeship program in place to give more work opportunities to local youth.

The council approved the development plans Thursday by a 3-0 vote. Mayor Pro Tem Steve Downs was absent, while Councilmember Meg Marker recused herself due to her radio company, Marker Broadcasting, having done business with Eisenhower Health within the past year.

This story has been updated to reflect Eisenhower Health's full workforce of roughly 4,500 employees.

This story includes past reporting from Desert Sun staff writer Ema Sasic.

Tom Coulter covers the cities of Palm Desert, La Quinta, Rancho Mirage and Indian Wells. Reach him at thomas.coulter@desertsun.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Eisenhower’s latest expansion plan OK'd: What's coming to the campus