America’s health care system is under pressure with demand rising, hospital capacity strained and the number of patients who need care the most increasing faster than the system was built to serve. UC San Diego Health and West Health are addressing this nationwide reality, and together, have launched the West Health Accelerator at UC San Diego Health.
Known as the Accelerator, this six-year, $40 million initiative will build a new model of coordinated, reliable care that is designed to raise the standard for health systems across the country.
“By 2030, one in five Americans will be aged 65 or older and this demographic shift will dramatically increase the need for easily accessible personalized health care,” said UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla. “The Accelerator will help UC San Diego Health meet local and national demand as it opens new locations across the San Diego region.”
The Accelerator will significantly expand UC San Diego Health’s ability to ensure every patient gets the right care, at the right time, in the right setting. Whether they are navigating a first referral, moving between specialists, recovering after a procedure, or managing ongoing care across multiple locations, that standard doesn’t change.
The work begins in San Diego, across UC San Diego Health’s three hospitals and growing network of clinics, and will be developed from the ground up to be shared with health systems across the country.
“Every person deserves coordinated, timely, and reliable care, no matter where they are in their health journey," said Shelley Lyford, CEO of West Health. "Together with UC San Diego Health, we are designing a new, tech-forward national model for how health systems deliver on that promise, built on the university's clinical and research prowess, strengthened by everything we've learned across every West Health Accelerator nationwide."
“UC San Diego Health finds itself at a pivotal moment in its growth,” said Patty Maysent, CEO of UC San Diego Health. “As we expand our geographical footprint and lifesaving medical and surgical programs, the Accelerator will help us to continuously design and deliver coordinated, timely and reliable care across multiple hospital campuses and ambulatory clinics, and when possible, at home, aided by wearable technologies.”
This partnership is built on a proven foundation. For more than a decade, the two organizations have worked together to set a national standard for care that is focused on the needs of an aging population and built for the long term. Together, they opened California’s first accredited senior emergency care unit, the Gary and Mary West Emergency Department at Jacobs Medical Center at UC San Diego Health in La Jolla. That work helped secure San Diego County as the nation’s first region to have all hospitals receive Geriatric Emergency Department accreditation from the American College of Emergency Physicians, which has grown to 654 Geriatric Emergency Department sites across the country. This Accelerator is the next chapter of that work.
“This partnership will reliably improve access and delivery across the health care continuum at UC San Diego Health by ensuring there is a continuous focus on the patient’s needs and experience,” said Theodore “Ted” Chan, MD, inaugural executive director of the West Health Accelerator at UC San Diego Health and chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at UC San Diego Health. “Our teams are launching a number of initiatives implementing advanced technologies into clinical practice, including virtual care platforms and seamless integration of health data to benefit patients and providers.”
At the heart of UC San Diego Health’s innovative work is the Joan & Irwin Jacobs Center for Health Innovation at UC San Diego Health (JCHI) , a dedicated center focused on the ethical development and deployment of technology to improve patient care. Building on that foundation, the Accelerator will expand mission control, an around-the-clock coordination hub that utilizes advanced technologies, data, and the health system’s electronic health record to ensure patients are seen and cared for at the right time and in the right environment.
“As the region’s only academic health system, UC San Diego Health is uniquely positioned to lead this effort in critical care delivery, bringing together world-class clinical excellence, research and one of the nation’s strongest biotech ecosystems,” said Alexander Khalessi, MD, MBA, chief innovation officer for UC San Diego Health and interim assistant vice chancellor for Health Sciences Innovation and AI. “Through the Accelerator, new health care capabilities and technology first created at JCHI will be further developed and tested in order to make measurable differences for patients, physicians, researchers and staff.”
Founded by Gary and Mary West in 2006, West Health is a family of nonprofit, nonpartisan organizations working to make health care more affordable and accessible for all Americans. The West Health Accelerator at UC San Diego Health is the latest in a growing portfolio of partnerships that includes Northwestern Medicine, Mass General Brigham, Duke-Margolis, the American Hospital Association, and the National Committee for Quality Assurance, each focused on building health care solutions across geriatric care, behavioral health, and value-based care.
About UC San Diego Health
UC San Diego Health, the region’s only academic health system, is dedicated to delivering outstanding patient care through commitment to community, groundbreaking research and inspired teaching. For 2026-27, U.S. News & World Report ranked UC San Diego Health as the best hospital system in San Diego and among the nation’s best in eight adult medical and surgical specialties, including cancer, cardiology, geriatrics, neurology and pulmonology. It is the first health system in San Diego County to make the Honor Roll for outstanding patient care. The 1,011-bed health system includes three hospitals — Hillcrest Medical Center, Jacobs Medical Center and East Campus Medical Center — as well as Sulpizio Cardiovascular Center, Moores Cancer Center, Shiley Eye Institute, Koman Family Outpatient Pavilion, McGrath Outpatient Pavilion, and Altman Clinical and Translational Research Institute. The health system also includes primary care and same-day services at clinics throughout Southern California.
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About West Health
Solely funded by philanthropists Gary and Mary West, West Health is a family of nonprofit and nonpartisan organizations that include the Gary and Mary West Foundation and Gary and Mary West Health Institute in San Diego and the Gary and Mary West Health Policy Center in Washington, D.C. West Health is dedicated to lowering health care costs to enable seniors to successfully age in place with access to high-quality and affordable health and support services that preserve and protect their dignity, quality of life and independence. Learn more at westhealth.org .
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