California hospitals are looking to build hotels specifically for patients and their families — and traveling staff, the Los Angeles Business Journal reported Dec. 19.
Duarte, Calif.-based City of Hope opened a 147-room hotel on its campus Dec. 7. The $65 million building features adjoining rooms for patients with larger families, as well as rooms with two sleeping areas separated by a partition.
The hotel's primary function is to keep patients who are experiencing side effects from treatment or a clinical trial close to their medical team. Room rates will be determined on a case-by-case basis depending on the patient's treatment plan and ability to pay, executives from City of Hope told the Journal.
Alan Reay, president of hotel development consulting firm Atlas Hospitality Group, told the Journal that more developers are looking to open hotels near medical facilities. For example, Murietta, Calif.'s city council is considering building a hotel near Loma Linda University Medical Center for hospital staff and traveling professionals.