DOWNEY -- Kaiser Permanente officially broke ground on their new Tower expansion Wednesday morning, kicking off a project that will add more than 90 new beds and updated technology to the campus once completed.

Once erected, the new tower will house 96 additional beds, as well as the best of “high-tech” and “high-touch” medicine in the form of the latest technological innovations currently in medicine.

“The hospital tower expansion gives me great pride,” said Dr. Binesh Batra, Area Medical Director. “Our membership continues to climb; we have 390,000 members now, and we think in the next five years we might going up to 445,000…with the 96-bed cover, with the existing 352 we’ll be a 448-bed hospital, which will be the second largest hospital in KP Southern California.”

“The most important thing is not these figures or numbers we share with you, but who makes this magic happen: it’s the people of Kaiser Permanente…that is what it comes down to; we all wake up in the morning, what motivates us to go touch and save lives, and that’s what we do.”

Downey City Council members in attendance at the groundbreaking ceremony.

“We’re happy to be here and be supportive of Kaiser Permanente,” said Mayor Sean Ashton. “This is going to be a great addition to the hospital to provide more healthcare not only for Downey residents but residents of the immediate area.”

The tower is slated to be completed by December 2020, with Kaiser hoping to be able to admit patients into the facility by March 2021.