Kaiser opens North San Jose offices with lion dancers, Aztec blessing
New medical offices includes 171 exams rooms, a pharmacy and optometry department
It’s not enough to just cut a ribbon anymore.
The opening ceremony for Kaiser Permanente’s new four-story medical office building in North San Jose Friday included dancers from the Far East Dragon Lion Dance Association and an energetic Aztec dance blessing by performers with Calpulli Tonalehqueh. Inside the facility on Skyport Drive, origami cranes — made by volunteers from the Yu-Ai Kai senior center in Japantown — decorated the lobby. Kaiser Skyport includes 103 provider offices, 171 exam rooms, a cafe and a pharmacy.
The building also has several “cool” features, like intelligent windows that automatically tint in response to the weather, on-site solar production that will provide almost three-quarters of the building’s electrical needs, and a roof that reflects sunlight.
“Skyport is one of Kaiser Permanente’s next-generation office buildings, meaning we incorporated an innovative design,” said Chris Boyd, senior vice president and area manager at Kaiser
Santa Clara.
“We had our groundbreaking just under two years ago, and even by Silicon Valley standards this has gone up very quickly and it’s very impressive.”
The interior decor takes its cue from nearby Mineta San Jose International Airport, with light fixtures shaped like airplane propellers, a wing-shaped entrance canopy, and a mural on the glass-enclosed main staircase that features images of clouds and paper airplanes.
The ribbon-cutting included Janet Liang, president of Kaiser Permanente’s Northern California Region; Kaiser Santa Clara Physician-in-Chief Susan Smarr; San Jose Vice Mayor Magdalena Carrasco and City Councilman Lan Diep; SPUR San Jose Director Teresa Alvarado; state Sen. Bob Wiecowski and state Sen. Kansen Chu. Coincidentally, Kaiser Permanente also held a groundbreaking Friday for a new, four-story facility in Redwood City, that will be home for specialty care departments, a gift shop, a cafe and a pharmacy.
That 197,000 square-foot building is scheduled to open in early 2021.