The hospital's board approved the $20-million project in December. Currently in the early planning stages, officials anticipate the project will break ground late this year and be completed by 2004. A number of bids from contractors have been accepted and are currently under review. Potential contractors and architects are being interviewed but the hospital would not identify them. Financing for a portion of the project will come from Sutter Health and some funds will come from philanthropic sources.

Plans call for building a new wing on the northeast side of the main building, near the main entrance, parallel to the Contra Costa Canal. The hospital sits on a 27-acre parcel, located at 3901 Lone Tree Way. Although exact square footage of the entire hospital was not available, Slatten says the facility covers roughly half the land, leaving plenty of room for future expansions.

The project is part of a larger effort to serve East County's burgeoning population. The hospital's emergency room, which treats 40,000 people annually, was expanded last summer from 16 to 22 beds.