Scripps Health Breaks Ground on $175M Facility in La Jolla

Construction got under way today in La Jolla on a six-story medical office building—part of the remaking of the Scripps Memorial Hospital campus.

The $175 million Scripps Clinic John R. Anderson V Medical Pavilion will be used for specialty services like cardiology, gastroenterology, pulmonology, neurology, nephrology and endocrinology.

The building, slated for completion in 2016, will also include four catheterization labs that will allow physicians to perform certain cardiac procedures in an outpatient setting.

It is named for the son of longtime Scripps Health supporters Eileen and John "Jack" R. Anderson IV, who donated $25 million toward construction. John R. Anderson V, a Navy veteran, died of melanoma 10 years ago.

"We felt this donation would be an appropriate way to pay tribute to our son John and give others the opportunity to benefit from the medical expertise that our family has trusted over the past three decades,"  John Anderson IV said. "John had a lot of things in common with Scripps. He was a great thinker, an innovator. He was always trying to make life better for somebody else."

The elder Anderson and his wife have also supported programs at Scripps Clinic and Scripps Green Hospital. He is a retired Pasadena structural engineer who invented a form of pre-cast concrete construction that became an industry standard, according to Scripps Health.

"We are extremely grateful for the long-standing philanthropic support of the Anderson family, and this latest gift will create a lasting legacy for generations to come," said Chirs Van Gorder, Scripps Health president and CEO. "Scripps was founded through philanthropy and it's the generosity of donors like the Andersons and others that has made us what we are today. And, it will be that generosity that will shape us into who we become in the future."

—City News Service