MURRIETA -- Plans for a proposed 110-bed physician's hospital are inching forward, with a study of the environmental affects nearing completion and terms of a partnership with Loma Linda Medical Center being hashed out, backers of the project say.

The proposal was made by a group of about 70 area doctors who want to offer top-notch health care in the area, said Dr. John Piconi, leader of the group. Plans call for the construction of a teaching hospital east of Antelope Road and Interstate 215.

The hospital, which has been in the works since March 2006, is intended to include two buildings totaling 490,000 square feet. One building would contain medical offices and the other would be a five-story acute-care hospital, said Chris Carnes, a contract planner on the project.

The project, which could cost between $200 million and $500 million, is expected to include an emergency room, a pharmacy, clinical lab and cardiovascular unit, Carnes said.

The premises also would include an 8,800-square-foot power plant that would act as a backup in the event of a power outage, a helipad from which patients could be taken to or from the hospital, and enough parking space for 1,329 vehicles.

It is proposed to occupy nearly 30 acres with the freeway bordering it to the west, Baxter Road bordering the south, Antelope Road to the east and Triple C Ranch Road to the north.

Although Southwest County is home to three hospitals, and a fourth is planned in Temecula, this facility is intended to be a teaching hospital, which would be a first for the area.

The education element is what Piconi says he believes will keep the region connected to cutting-edge medicine.

"They wanted to build a hospital whose focus was on quality so that we can provide a complete range of services that aren't available right now," said Piconi, a retired urologist. "When you're a teaching hospital, you can basically be a center of excellence."

Piconi said the effort has drawn in about $17.5 million from doctors and community investors who support the construction.

Meanwhile, officials are pushing forward with an environmental report that will assess what effects the facilities would have on the surrounding area.

Carnes said planners are studying the noise that would be generated from a proposed helipad and how construction would generally affect traffic. That report should be complete in about a month, said city Planning Director Mary Lanier.

At that point, members of the public will have several weeks to comment on the report's findings before a public hearing is held and the Planning Commission considers the plan.

Also reportedly near completion is an agreement between the group of physicians backing the project and Loma Linda Medical Center. Piconi said the agreement, which would give the medical center a 45 percent stake in the project, may be final by the end of May.

"They're a university hospital that has a medical school and residencies, and they are well recognized as a center of excellence," Piconi said. "And that's what we want to be."

Contact staff writer Nelsy Rodriguez at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2626, or nrodriguez@californian.com.

CORRECTION: Number of hospital beds misstated

An article in The Californian contained incorrect information about the number of beds that would be available at a proposed physicians hospital in Murrieta. The hospital planned on 30 acres between Interstate 215 and Antelope Road would accommodate 110 beds and could be expanded to 220 beds.

We apologize.