CHULA VISTA, CA—The influx of families to the South Bay area of San Diego present a growing need for healthcare services like cancer care, heart care, maternity services and orthopedic care in particular, Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center's CEO Pablo Velez, RN, PhD, tells GlobeSt.com. As we recently reported, the health system is planning to build a new $239-million, 170,000-square-foot hospital, adding 138 private patient rooms and six state-of-the-art operating rooms to meet the needs of the growing South County region of San Diego. The project, which is named Ocean View Tower at Sharp Chula Vista will open in 2019. We spoke exclusively with Velez about the Chula Vista submarket, why it's growing and why healthcare is of prime concern to this submarket.

GlobeSt.com: Why is Chula Vista becoming an important submarket for Sharp HealthCare?

Velez: Chula Vista has long been an important market for Sharp HealthCare. As an organization, Sharp is deeply committed to providing healthcare that is convenient and accessible, and this means providing services in residents' own communities. Chula Vista and the larger South County region of San Diego have experienced tremendous growth over the years and are projected to continue to continue growing at an incredible pace. According to the South County Economic Development Council, the area's population was 480,000 in 2010 and is expected to reach 652,000 by 2040—an increase of about 36%. There are several important developments in the works to support this growth, including the Ocean View Tower Sharp Chula Vista is building to increase access to healthcare in this community:

The Chula Vista Bayfront is being transformed into 535 acres of a thriving residential and world-class waterfront resort destination. This project is a public/private planning effort of the Port of San Diego, the City of Chula Vista and Pacifica Cos. The plan includes public parks and open space, 3,100 hotel rooms, 1,500 units of residential condominium housing, commercial-office space, cultural facilities and marina improvements and is expected to create more than 2,200 permanent jobs and nearly 7,000 construction jobs.

Also, the Millenia project, a planned hybrid community consisting of 207 acres of mixed-use residential and 3.5 million square feet of office and retail space, is currently being built in the Otay Ranch community of Chula Vista. Millenia includes 80 city blocks of residential, shopping, and employment opportunities in five separate districts. Millenia will also be home to the region's first major hotel. This new development is located less than 5 miles from Sharp Chula Vista. Millenia's 3,000 new homes are expected to be completed by December of this year.

Plans are also moving forward for a new university and innovation district to be located on a 375-acre site adjacent to the US Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista. The new university is expected to serve 20,000 students and bring together the resources of distinguished public and private universities, research institutes and laboratories and related business and technology