Banner-University Medical Center (formerly University of Arizona Medical Center) is expanding in Tucson.
Banner to neighbors: 3 years of construction
From the Arizona Daily Star
By; Stephanie Innes
(excerpts from the article)
Phoenix-based Banner Health’s promised Tucson expansion is taking shape: The new owner of the area’s only academic medical center is preparing to build an 11-story tower and recently revealed plans for a massive north-side outpatient clinic.
Banner officials, in Tucson for nearly six months, have begun meeting with neighbors about expanding and reconstructing Banner-University Medical Center Tucson, 1501 N. Campbell Ave.
Plans include a new entrance anchored by a hospital tower that will be nearly 700,000 square feet. Construction, which will include demolishing nine buildings on the north side of the campus, is to begin next year pending approval by the city of Tucson.
Banner officials say they are also planning a new $80 million outpatient clinic on Tucson’s north side.The expansion anticipates a future when more health care will be done on an outpatient basis and only the sickest patients will be hospitalized.
“We are only adding seven or eight more beds to the hospital. The purpose is a better hospital, not a bigger one,” said Kathy Bollinger, president of Banner-University Medicine Division.
The company, looking to grow its market share in Tucson, is recruiting to fill 132 physician openings — about half replace doctors who have left, and about half are new positions, Bollinger said. Some will go to Banner-University Medical Center Phoenix, but the vast majority will be in Tucson.
The new doctors will come on board between now and next summer, and officials recently announced the first wave of 30 hires.
“This is a game changer for this organization,” Bollinger said. “It’s time to return to this organization’s former best self — and then some.”
Continue reading; Banner to neighbors: 3 years of construction
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And it’s also very good for Tucson. Primarily, more access to better medical care and facilities, but also more jobs. I can’t even imagine how many construction jobs this project will require, plus the huge increase in demand for ancillary goods and services. And with 100 or so more physicians they’ll need to hire more support staff, and some of the new physicians and staff will likely come from out of town and will be looking to buy homes. More jobs all the way around. Just what the Doctor ordered.
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