GLENDALE, Ariz.—Denver-based healthcare real estate development firm NexCore Group will develop Banner Health’s newest multispecialty health center in the greater Phoenix area.  Banner Health’s new Class A, 130,000-square-foot clinic will encompass three stories of care space in the Aspera mixed-use development area in the northwest Phoenix suburb of Glendale. 

Banner Health already owns the Aspera development property, encompassing 17.5 acres of real estate located near 75th Avenue and the Agua Fria Loop 101 Freeway. 

“NexCore is proud to be selected by Banner Health, a premier health system that shares our dedication to providing convenient access to top-quality healthcare in the communities we serve, through strategically planned facilities to streamline costs while maximizing value for patients,” said Todd Varney, chief development officer and managing partner of NexCore.

Varney added that the new facility will jibe with Banner Health’s mission to offer patients the highest possible care in a collaborative care environment via efficient facilities that offer the most feasible interactions between staff and patients. 

“The Banner Health Center promises to be a valuable healthcare asset to the growing community of Glendale, bringing a multitude of the most anticipated services to the area surrounding the Aspera development,” Varney said. 

The Glendale Banner Health Center will offer specialized care in family medicine, comprehensive clinical services, orthopedics, general surgery, dermatology, gastroenterology, cardiology, endocrinology, internal medicine and OB/GYN services.  When completed, the new facility will also entail labs, a pharmacy and imaging services.

“We’re excited to begin work on our newest Banner Health Center, continuing our long-standing commitment to providing care in the Northwest Valley,” Scott Nordlund, chief strategy and growth officer for Phoenix-based Banner Health, said in a statement, adding that the Glendale section of the greater Phoenix area’s valley continues to see an uptick in growth—thereby requiring more healthcare space and professionals. 

“Along with that growth comes the need for easy and convenient access to quality primary care and specialist services like those we’ll offer at the new Banner Health Center,” Nordlund said. 

Banner Health owns and operates 28 acute-care hospitals as well as nursing and other care facilities in Arizona and five other western states. 

NexCore, named one of the top Healthcare Real Estate Developers in the nation by Modern Healthcare magazine, has already developed, leased and/or owns more than 1 million square feet of healthcare facilities in the Grand Canyon State alone.  The national healthcare builder will provide strategic facility and operational planning, design, development, construction, project management and financing for the Glendale Banner Health Center project.

The new healthcare facility in Glendale is scheduled to break ground in January and open to the public in early 2021.

“We look forward to breaking ground on this project and believe we’ve found an excellent partner in NexCore to help us construct a first-rate facility for this community,” Banner Health’s Nordlund said of the collaboration with the contractor.

The post NexCore Developing Multispecialty Arizona Facility appeared first on HCO News.

CHANDLER, Ariz. — Phoenix-based Banner Health, the state’s largest private employer and health system, recently began construction on their new 245,000-square-foot, $155 million hospital to serve Maricopa County as a comprehensive medical care center.

The new four-story hospital, given the name the Banner Ocotillo Medical Center, is situated on an18-acre site in the South East Valley, one of the fastest growing areas in Maricopa County.

Designed by architectural firm, SmithGroup, and working alongside general contractor, Tempe-based Okland Construction – the new medical center will welcome patients to approximately 120 beds, while providing imaging, surgery, labor and delivery, intensive care and an emergency room with space suitable for expansion.

SmithGroup Vice President – Health Studio Leader, Craig Passey, AIA, ACHA, explained that 66 percent of patients currently travel ten miles or more to receive healthcare while 22 percent of inpatients and 10 percent of emergency department patients are estimated as currently leaving the South East Valley to receive medical care.

Through this project, Banner Health seeks to deliver care where it’s needed, serving over 80,000 member in the Banner Health network that live within the South East Valley.

The emergency department entry is the first thing you see upon arrival, followed by the signature banner block entry tower that guides non-emergency patients to the facility’s front door.

The use of building massing and site strategies that lead to intuitive wayfinding to ease patient anxiety and stress upon arrival, and also utilizes daylight as well as a connection to nature to help guide internal circulation/wayfinding. The hospital design also enhances the patient/family waiting experience by providing family space inside patient units and at the bed side. 

Reduced ‘waiting rooms’ to sub-waiting integrated into circulation outside of units, and provided private areas for families and physicians to consult immediately outside of sub-wait/patient units.

Narrowing corridors where bed traffic doesn’t occur assists in reducing circulation and travel distances, eliminating race track circulation around surgical departments, and creating cross corridor circulation that serves dual purposes.

Additionally, the design team has prefabricated and panelized the exterior envelope to create a safer work environment and shorten the construction schedule to bring services to the community sooner.

As with other facilities in the Banner Health System, Banner Ocotillo will utilize integrated patient record systems that will promote improved access to patient information by clinicians and staff and reduce patient errors.

Light fixtures equipped with surface disinfection technology and active air disinfection technology to kill HAI’s (‘Hospital Acquired Infections’) are also being installed at the new facility.

Construction commenced in November 2018and is forecasted for completion in August 2020.

The post Banner Health Moves Forward on New Arizona Care Center appeared first on HCO News.

The 100-bed expansion, which would be on a 32-acre site on Fleming Island, is currently set to cost $70 million and will take between 18 and 24 months to complete. Although it will be slightly smaller than the proposed Orange Park Medical Center nearby, Darian Roark of Baptist Clay said that Clay County is a growing community, and the residents have indicated that they want to receive their health care close to home, showing a need for the expansion.

The Baptist Medical Center expansion will likely be the first of several more proposals. Surrounding communities, such as St. Johns and Nassau are also growing communities in the need of healthcare. The community growth has Baptist Health also looking at putting facilities near St. Johns Town Center and possibly one more near interstate 295. To show the need for expansion, Baptist Clay has pointed out that when a number of Fleming Island High School students were injured during a water slide collapse, it was helpful for them to have health care only a couple of minutes away.

One resident near Clay County has said that having the hospitals nearby has given him the access to larger pharmacies that carry more medications and make it easier for him to receive the medications that he needs.

As Baptist Health continues to grow UF Health Jacksonville, has opened a North Campus emergency room and will soon break ground on a 92- bed hospital. UF Health has said that the visits at the North Campus have already exceeding expectations and has shown them that North East Florida needs more health care options.

By October, Baptist Health has to submit its complete application for a Certificate of Need to the Agency for Health Care Administration. The agency will then have until December 4 to approve or deny the request. After this, there will be a three-week period for public feedback. If there is an opposition during this period, it could delay the start of construction about six months, until the middle of 2016.

The post Baptist Medical Center Plans Expansion for 2016 appeared first on HCO News.