Arizona has about 110 hospitals across the state, according to U.S. News & World Report. Four are nationally ranked and seven others meet national high performance standards.
Of the 100-plus hospitals, AZRE compiled a list of the 12 most influential healthcare projects in Arizona. The list is in no particular order and projects were chosen to represent a range of geographic regions, healthcare providers and hospital specialties.
It includes the first hospital in the state, the current highest ranking hospitals, the largest hospital and others from the north, south, east and west parts of the state.
Barrow Neurological Institute at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center
As the world’s largest neurological disease treatment and research institution, the Barrow Neurological Institute remains a leader in neurosciences since opening in 1962. It also includes the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center, opened in 1997, which is recognized as a National Parkinson Foundation Center of Excellence for providing cutting-edge treatments. Both are located at St. Joseph’s, which was the first hospital founded in the Phoenix area in 1895.
Phoenix Children’s Hospital
This marks the only hospital in Arizona to be named to the U.S. News & World Report’s Best Children’s Hospitals rankings and is also the largest pediatrics group in state. Originally founded in 1983, it was one of only 25 children’s hospitals in the U.S. to make the list in all 10 specialties. The hospital broke ground in December 2015 on a new Emergency Department and Level One Pediatric Trauma Center that will accommodate 100,000 patients per year, which is set to open late 2017.
Carondelet St. Mary’s Hospital
The region’s only Catholic hospital system was also the first hospital to open in Arizona in 1880 by seven Sisters from St. Joseph’s. Today the hospital is the home of the Carondelet Heart and Vascular Institute, which has become a regional destination for patients seeking the most advanced and minimally invasive options for heart and vascular surgery.
Translational Genomics Research Institute
Established in 2002, TGen aims to employ genetic discoveries from the Human Genome Project to improve disease outcomes by developing smarter diagnostics and targeted therapeutics for a number of human disorders/diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, Autism, Parkinson’s, diabetes and various forms of cancer. It played a vital role in the creation of the UA BioScience Campus in Downtown Phoenix, which includes Banner-UMC-Phoenix and Bioscience High School.
Banner – University Medical Center – Tucson
Southern Arizona’s only Level 1 Trauma Center, formerly University of Arizona Medical Center-University Campus, was part of a 2015 merger between UA Health and Banner that came with a name change. Originally founded in 1967 on the UA campus, it was the state’s only MD degree granting college and today UA College of Medicine ranks among the top medical schools in the nation for research and primary care.
Flagstaff Medical Center
The hospital was founded in 1936 as Flagstaff Hospital with 25 beds. Today it has 270 inpatient beds serving as the major hospital and regional trauma center in the region, which is part of Northern Arizona Healthcare, the largest healthcare organization in the area.
Mayo Clinic
According to the 2015-2016 U.S. News and World Report, Mayo Clinic is ranked the No. 1 hospital in Arizona and is nationally ranked in 12 medical specialties. It brings in patients from across the world and provides all medical services a patient may need — doctor visits, testing, surgery, hospital care — under one roof. The Scottsdale campus opened in 1987 and includes the Mayo Clinic Building, the Samuel C. Johnson Research Building and the Mayo Clinic Collaborative Research Building.
Midwestern University – Glendale Campus
Founded in 1995, it took less than a decade for the 143-acre campus to solidify itself as a premier medical research institution in Arizona. Today the Glendale campus is home to more than 2,900 students and five colleges, offering 14 fields of study. The three on-campus clinics: Midwestern University Multispecialty Clinic, the Midwestern University Dental Institute and the Midwestern University Eye Institute provide medical services to the community and hands-on clinical experience for its students.
Saint Luke’s Behavioral Health Center
Saint Luke’s opened in 1969 and continues to serve the community’s mental health needs with inpatient and outpatient treatment programs for behavioral and mental health illness along with drug and alcohol treatment. It was also home to Arizona’s first burn center and as well as the first hospital to offer a residential drug treatment program.
John C. Lincoln Medical Center
John C. Lincoln celebrated a lot of firsts since it opened in 1954 as John C. Lincoln North Mountain Hospital, which was later changed to its current title. It was the first Phoenix hospital with an air-evacuation medical transport service and an FAA-approved heliport as well as one of the Valley’s first three Level I Trauma Centers. The Center is also where the first class of Phoenix Fire Department paramedics were trained and home of the state’s first licensed Adult Day Health Care center.
Banner – University Medical Center – Phoenix
The state’s largest hospital, formerly Banner Good Samaritan built in 1923, has served the area for more than 100 years and is known as a top teaching hospital. The name was changed to Banner-UMC-Phoenix in 2015. It works in collaboration with the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix to find new medical discoveries. The Phoenix campus includes an acknowledged unit for high-risk obstetrics, the Cavanagh Heart Center, a renowned transplant team and specialty units such as the Banner Alzheimer’s Institute.
Cancer Treatment Center of America at Western Regional Medical Center
Cancer treatment is the focus at the Western Regional Medical Center, which opened its doors in 2008. It is known for having a team of cancer experts who deliver comprehensive services ranging from genomic tumors assessments to state-of-the-art technologies and evidence-based supportive therapies that target cancer-related side effects. In 2015, it became the first hospital in the Southwest and the sixth hospital in the country to earn the Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval for Lung Cancer Certification.
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Photos by Shannon Finn
