Kitchell recently completed a 171,000-square-foot expansion at Dignity Health Chandler Regional Medical Center, adding 96 beds and bringing the hospital’s bed count to 339, while adding and expanding comprehensive services.

The ICU at Chandler Regional Medical Center
The ICU at Chandler Regional Medical Center

“Chandler Regional is truly a community hospital with more than 50 years of history in the East Valley,” said Tim Bricker, president and CEO of Chandler Regional and Mercy Gilbert Medical Centers. “The City of Chandler is growing at 1.7 percent per year which adds approximately 5,000 new residents annually.

This new tower and the services we’re able to provide as a result, exemplifies the city’s growth. We’re proud to be expanding to serve the health care needs of our community.”

The $125-million project began in December 2011, will add more than 200 new employees. The five-story addition includes 96 inpatient beds; an expanded emergency department with additional patient rooms, four trauma bays, two helipads and an expanded radiology department; expanded surgical services with six new operating rooms; and a new and expanded Intensive Care Unit with 32 beds.

Chandler Regional is the latest project in the growing portfolio by the design-build team of Kitchell and Orcutt | Winslow Partnership. The team is also responsible for several renovations and additions at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, Dignity Health-St. Rose Dominican, Siena Campus in Henderson, Nev., and is also working at Mercy Gilbert Medical Center.

Chandler Regional Medical Center
Chandler Regional Medical Center

Chandler Regional first opened its doors in 1961 with 42 beds, 25 employees and 91 volunteers at what is now McQueen Rd. and Chandler Blvd. The facility moved to its current location in 1984 and by 1996 received $40 million in bonds which was used for major expansion over the next 10 years. In 2002, the hospital added a 140,000-square-foot tower that included a women’s center, outpatient diagnostic imaging, and dedicated emergency CT and MRI.  By 2011, the hospital added two new labs and an additional nine-bed holding unit to its Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory. The following year, Chandler Regional opened a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit with 12 private patient rooms featuring overnight accommodations.

The hospital began operating as a Level I Trauma Center in March 2014 after being granted provisional designation by the Arizona Department of Health Services. Official designation is expected later this fall.