ORANGE, CALIF. — The Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) has completed a major expansion to its medical campus with the opening of the $373 million Southwest Tower, a new nine-story outpatient and research facility that promises to elevate pediatric care in Southern California.

The facility was delivered by a project team led by McCarthy Building Companies, the St. Louis-based general contractor, and Jacobs, the Dallas-based construction manager, according to a June 16 news release from CannonDesign, the architect and engineer of record. The project broke ground in 2022 and adds 300,000 square feet of space dedicated to clinical care, cancer treatment, research, and imaging services.

“This facility enables McCarthy Building Companies to leverage our deep well of expertise in the healthcare sector that will have a positive impact well beyond the scope of this project,” said Jim Madrid, president of McCarthy’s Southern Pacific region, at the groundbreaking.

The Southwest Tower includes:

• Five floors of pediatric specialty clinics,
• An oncology infusion center,
• A comprehensive imaging suite, and
• A research institute focused on clinical trials and pediatric research.

The tower is designed to work in tandem with the Bill Holmes Tower, a 2012 expansion project also built by McCarthy with CannonDesign. The two buildings form an integrated pediatric healthcare hub, providing both inpatient and outpatient services on a single campus.

Beyond its clinical function, the project also carries emotional significance for those involved. Craig Cherf, McCarthy’s senior preconstruction director, worked on both towers. His son Jackson was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia at age 4 and treated at CHOC’s Hyundai Cancer Institute. Today, Jackson is cancer-free.

“I love working on children’s hospitals,” Cherf shared in a 2024 blog post by CHOC. “It’s my favorite thing to do.”

The new tower’s completion coincides with the hospital’s response to rising demand for high-acuity services. CHOC also opened a 24-bed cardiovascular intensive care unit and a 28-bed neuroscience unit in the Bill Holmes Tower, according to CannonDesign.

This major investment signals CHOC’s long-term strategy to expand specialty services, reduce wait times for pediatric patients, and enhance its capabilities in clinical research and advanced diagnostics.

Southern California’s healthcare construction market continues to grow, driven by regional population increases, higher acuity case loads, and a national trend toward consolidated outpatient and research hubs. The completion of the Southwest Tower positions CHOC to be a leader not only in patient care but also in pediatric research and innovation.

Originally reported by Matthew Thibault in Construction Dive.