Clinical Affairs

Clinical operations continue to expand across the health system, with notable growth in ambulatory surgery capacity, including new operating rooms at Bayfront, the initiation of cases at POPC, and increasing pediatric volumes at Walnut Creek and Oakland Children’s outpatient surgery centers. A coordinated, systemwide effort to ensure care is delivered in the most appropriate setting is helping shift eligible outpatient procedures from Moffitt/Long and Mission Bay to Bayfront and Mount Zion, maximizing efficiency and access. A parallel initiative is optimizing use of the Walnut Creek Outpatient Surgery Center for pediatric cases, while preparations are underway to increase utilization of Stanyan and Hyde Hospitals.

At Parnassus, surgical volume remains high and continues to rise, with the busiest months in the past three fiscal years occurring within the last six months. The successful transition of ambulatory cases to outpatient sites has created capacity for more complex, high-acuity procedures, including neurosurgery, cardiothoracic, vascular, and transplant cases. Highlights include the first instance of three simultaneous lung transplants and continued growth in thoracic and abdominal transplant volume. Anesthesia teams are rapidly advancing their expertise in highly complex combined heart and liver transplants.

Innovation and demand for specialized services remain strong. UCSF performed its first robotic living donor hepatectomy, and after an initial learning curve, operative times are approaching those of open procedures—positioning the robotic approach as a new standard for many patients. Increased use of robotic techniques in both liver and kidney donor surgeries is contributing to high demand for robotic systems.

Operational improvements are also underway, including better alignment of non-OR and OR start times. Electrophysiology and neurointerventional radiology have begun adopting 7:30am start times in select rooms, supporting broader efforts to improve efficiency while maintaining stable work hours and leave times despite a high caseload.