A major healthcare expansion in Northern California has reached a significant construction milestone.
McCarthy Building Cos. topped out the $3.7 billion California Tower on Feb. 6, marking the structural completion of the 14-story hospital building at UC Davis Health in Sacramento.
The St. Louis-based contractor broke ground on the project in 2024 under a progressive design-build delivery model. The tower is part of a sweeping, eight-year expansion that will double the size of UC Davis Health’s Sacramento campus — described by the health system as the largest health system capital expansion currently underway in the United States.
Once complete, the project will include a 14-story hospital tower and a five-story pavilion designed to modernize and expand patient care services. The new facilities will house operating rooms, an imaging center and upgraded spaces for existing pharmacy and burn care units.
The expansion will also add approximately 334 inpatient beds, increasing the campus’ capacity to meet growing regional demand for advanced and specialty care.
Stakeholders gathered earlier this month to sign the final steel beam before its ceremonial placement — a longstanding construction tradition celebrating structural completion. UC Davis Health anticipates opening the California Tower in 2030.
The California Tower represents the final major component of UC Davis Health’s Vision 2030 initiative. Under the plan, the Sacramento campus will grow from 3.6 million square feet of building space to more than 7 million square feet.
In addition to the hospital tower, other major projects are advancing across the campus. These include the $253 million Central Utility Plant Expansion, a two-story, 32,000-square-foot facility. In December, Tutor Perini announced that its subsidiary Rudolph and Sletten secured the contract to construct that building.
The broader program is aimed at strengthening the health system’s research, teaching and patient care capabilities while supporting long-term population growth in the Sacramento region.
The milestone comes amid shifting dynamics in the construction sector. While data center development has driven much of the industry’s momentum in recent years, healthcare construction contributed to overall growth in planning activity at the end of 2025, according to the Dodge Momentum Index.
However, Dodge’s first report of 2026 signaled a slowdown in healthcare project planning at the start of the year, suggesting that while large institutional projects remain active, new starts may moderate in the near term.
.webp)
For McCarthy, the topping out follows another recent healthcare milestone. In December, the contractor completed the Plaza West Tower at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, further reinforcing its portfolio in complex medical construction.
As healthcare systems nationwide continue to modernize facilities and expand capacity, large-scale projects like the California Tower highlight the sustained demand for specialized construction expertise in hospital and academic medical environments.
Originally reported by Matthew Thibault, Reporter in Construction Dive.
