SAN MARCOS, Calif. — Kaiser Permanente opened a new hospital in San Marcos Wednesday, their third in San Diego County.

Crews broke ground on the new medical center, located at 360 Rush Drive, in the middle of the pandemic and it is now fully open to the public.

The new hospital was built in record time, however some have raised concerns that staffing is not where it should be.

The $600 million complex has 162-beds will serve about 188,000 members in North County.

With multiple hospitals in North County recently shutting down their women and newborn services, the new San Marcos Kaiser will be able to provide those services, which are currently lacking in the region. 

“This is a full-service community hospital. We have everything from our emergency department, our surgery, our labor and delivery to be able to deliver babies right here and our new neonatal intensive care unit.” Kaiser COO Max Villalobo said last week at a ribbon cutting ceremony.

Some healthcare workers have recently voiced their concerns over a lack of staffing, as well as concerns over burnout.

The healthcare giant, however, said all three Kaiser hospitals in San Diego are fully staffed.

“All Kaiser Permanente Medical Centers in San Diego — including Zion, San Diego and San Marcos are fully staffed and meet or exceed California state mandated nurse staffing ratios. Our new San Marcos Medical Center created more than 1,000 permanent positions which were fulfilled via an extensive six-month recruitment process,” said a statement from Kaiser.