SAN DIEGO — Rady Children’s Hospital broke ground Tuesday on a new 500,000 square-foot expansion to their emergency and ICU departments.

The seven-story patient care tower, which is expected to open in 2027, will house a new emergency department, advanced pediatric, neonatal and cardiac intensive care units, and state-of-the-art operating rooms, hospital officials said.

The $1 billion project is part of the hospital’s plan to “reimagine” the entire campus over the next several years, a news release said. The new facility will also feature child-friendly areas and single patient rooms with space for caregivers to stay.

A groundbreaking ceremony was attended by Rady Children’s President and CEO Patrick Frias, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria, Councilmember Raul Campillo, philanthropists Ernest and Evelyn Rady and other hospital leadership.

The project will include flexible spaces with the ability to adapt for different uses in the future as care models change in the decades to come, Rady Children’s said.