A groundbreaking celebration was recently held for a new, approximately $20-million medical office building to be built on the campus of Loma Linda University Medical Center � Murrieta.

�We are very pleased to be breaking ground on this state-of-the-art medical office building that will be the base for our top-notch doctors here in Southwest Riverside County,� says Bruce Christian, president and CEO of Loma Linda University Medical Center � Murrieta. �Between the new hospital and the new medical office building, this campus will play an important role in bringing quality healthcare to the community.�

The new five-story medical office building will be located just east of the hospital building, which is now under construction and is nearing completion. The new medical office building will offer about 160,000 sq ft of office space and accommodate about 60 physician offices. The new building is expected to open in the first quarter of 2011, in time for the opening of the new hospital.

Davis & Stokes is the architect and Layton Construction is general contractor for the hospital. The contractor for the medical office building is Kraus Anderson and the architect is Davis & Stokes; Frauenshuh HealthCare Real Estate Solutions, a Minneapolis-based development company, will build the project.

Once it opens, Loma Linda University Medical Center � Murrieta, a $211 million, 106-bed hospital, is expected to serve a fast-growing region encompassing the cities of Murrieta, Temecula, Lake Elsinore, Perris, Menifee, Wildomar, Hemet and surrounding communities.

The campus is being developed by Loma Linda University Medical Center, one of the nation�s leading teaching and research medical centers, and the Physicians Group of Murrieta, LLC, a consortium of doctors from Southwest Riverside County.