'Major Expansion' On The Horizon For UC Riverside Health

RIVERSIDE, CA — UC Riverside's School of Medicine announced Tuesday that a major expansion is coming to the campus — a hospital and research center.

For context, UCR is the only University of California campus in the system that doesn't have its own teaching hospital. For years, the campus has had to partner with Riverside County hospitals.

Campus leaders, including Chancellor Kim Wilcox, signed an agreement for the new facility on Tuesday.

“This day is about celebrating a future. We’re announcing a signed letter of intent to build a robust medical center complex right here on this spot,” Wilcox said at the June 3 event, which more than 100 people attended.

The medical center will be built on a 95-acre tract known as Canyon Springs Marketplace. The project will take a partnership with TDA, an investment company that manages that land.

According to the school, gaining this medical campus will provide a vital resource for the Inland Empire, which is facing "explosive" population growth and a severe lack of primary and specialty-care physicians.

“The longer-term hope is a teaching hospital of the type that will make a mark in America, just like our sister campuses have done with their medical centers,” Wilcox said.

The campus says the Inland Empire has a population of more than 4.6 million and has about 40 primary care physicians per 100,000 people. This is short of the 60-80 recommended by the California Health Care Foundation.

“This expansion at UC Riverside will help broaden the clinical footprint at UCR and establish a regional health sciences campus that serves as a hub for innovation, making world class care more accessible to Inland Empire communities," said UC President Michael V. Drake, M.D.

The lease agreement is for 21 acres at the intersection of Valley Springs Parkway and Gateway Drive. Campus officials have not confirmed a timeline or the estimated cost, except that it will be funded by the university system.

“When we looked at this land, we saw more than just acres of open space. We saw opportunity,” said Paula Purcell, the recently retired executive vice president of TDA. “It was in the right location, surrounded by communities in need, and just 5 miles up the road stood the University of California – one of the most respected institutions in the world – which had just launched a School of Medicine.”

The "robust" medical center will be near the border with Moreno Valley.

Gaining a major teaching hospital is a milestone for UCR Health, which sees more than 45,000 patients per year. While the School of Medicine's origins date back to 1974 in partnership with UCLA, UC Riverside didn't open its own medical school until 2013. Its first class graduated in 2017.

Since the school opened, it has graduated 454 physicians, with 26 percent of them completing residencies in the Inland Empire in 2024.

Garry Spanner, president of Canyon Springs Marketplace Corp, UCR Chancellor Kim Wilcox, and UC President Michael V. Drake sign a letter of intent. Photo by Stan Lim.