Dignity Health Mercy Gilbert Medical Center and Phoenix Children’s Hospital celebrated a major milestone Tuesday in the construction of the new Women’s and Children’s Pavilion on the Mercy Gilbert campus as the final steel beam of the structure was set into place.

The state-of-the-art medical facility, designed to care for women and children in the East Valley, is a partnership between Dignity Health, one of the nation’s largest health systems, and Phoenix Children’s, Arizona’s only nationally recognized pediatric hospital. 

The Women’s and Children’s Pavilion, which will be 378,000 square feet, will include 24 labor and delivery rooms operated by Mercy Gilbert which will have the capability to care for high-risk births. The facility will also have 48 post-partum beds.

Phoenix Children’s will operate a new 60-bed Level III neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), which will care for the most ill and premature babies, a 24-bed pediatric emergency department, six pediatric operating rooms and 24 pediatric beds within the new pavilion located on the Mercy Gilbert campus.

The five-story facility is expected to be completed in late 2020 and begin treating patients in the spring of 2021. 

The joint project between Dignity Health and Phoenix Children’s is part of a strategic expansion designed to meet the needs of the rapidly growing community in the East Valley.

“We are proud to work with Phoenix Children’s on such a momentous project that will allow both of our organizations to provide the best possible medical care to families in the East Valley,” said Mark Slyter, President and CEO of Mercy Gilbert and Chandler Regional Medical Centers. “We are also thankful for the ongoing support from the Town of Gilbert. The Women’s and Children’s Pavilion located right here on Mercy Gilbert’s campus will be a game-changer for our community.” 

“It is encouraging to hear the positive response from the community on this project,” said Bob Meyer, President and CEO of Phoenix Children’s. “We continue to listen to our patients and address their needs to the best of our ability. This new facility is a response to that, and gives us and Dignity Health the ability to deliver exceptional care that is convenient to the growing families in the East Valley.”

Dignity Health and Phoenix Children’s have teamed up for several projects in the past. In 2014, Phoenix Children’s opened a 22-bed unit inside Mercy Gilbert. In 2011, Dignity Health and Phoenix Children’s worked together to improve access to high-quality care by participating in the Arizona Care Network.