Construction began Thursday on Straub Medical Center’s new “health care campus of the future” in Honolulu, starting with the demolition of a two-story building at 801 S. Hotel St.

Hawaii Pacific Health, Straub’s parent company, said over the next few months, contractors will demolish three more buildings along the block between Kealamakai Street and Ward Avenue to clear the way for the medical center’s new 760,000-square-foot campus.

“We are excited to begin the new year with the start of this visionary project,” said Dave Underriner, Straub CEO, in a news release. “Our new health care campus will include the latest technology, increased efficiency and flexible spaces so entire families can receive the highest quality care in one place, just as Dr. George Straub envisioned when he opened his clinic on King Street more than 100 years ago.”

The multi-year project, when completed, is expected to be triple the size of the current facility.

In addition to a larger emergency department, the campus will offer a new parking garage with more stalls and an expanded patient drop-off area, larger patient rooms, more green spaces, and more solar panels. The historic Strode building — on-site since 1933 — will be kept and will also be renovated.

Straub said the current construction will not affect patients coming to the medical center or traffic in the area.

More details about the multi-phase project are available at Straub’s website.