Valleywise Health, members of the Maricopa County Special Health Care District Board, District Medical Group, community partners, local dignitaries and executives from project general contractor Kitchell gathered to break ground on the 673,000-square-foot Valleywise Health Medical Center in Phoenix. It will be located adjacent to the current medical center and will continue to service the healthcare needs of the community during construction.
Slated to open in late 2023, the 200-foot-tall building will have 10 stories and a basement, plus 233 private patient rooms, a dedicated floor for the renowned Arizona Burn Center, ten operating rooms, two interventional radiology areas (one built, one shelled), two catheterization labs, a dedicated procedural floor and a rooftop and ground level helipad.
“It’s an honor and very humbling to be here today, this is a big day for the entire Valleywise Health family,” said Steve Purves, president and CEO, Valleywise Health. “It’s hard to believe that in 3 or 4 short years a 10-story building will be standing here with state-of-the-art technology, the latest in design to make sure that the patient experience is what it needs to be and an environment that allows us to fulfill our core mission of ours and that is training and teaching the next generation of physicians, nurses and health professionals. Our mission is very simple and that’s to provide exceptional care without exception, every patient, every time,” Purves said.
The general contractor on the project is Kitchell. Architectural firms for the project are Phoenix-based Cuningham Group and EYP out of Houston.
“Today, the construction of the new Valleywise Health Medical Center heralds a bright future for our public health safety net system of care,” said Kate Gallego, Mayor of Phoenix. “I believe that a strong teaching hospital is just as important as great concert halls or ballparks in making a city great and Phoenix is lucky and proud to have Valleywise Health continue this 140-year tradition of service.”
Funding for the new medical center came as a result of the resounding response of voters approving Proposition 480 which provided Valleywise Health (formerly Maricopa Integrated Health System) more than $900 million for transforming the Valley’s public teaching hospital and safety net system of care. Beyond the world-class healthcare services Valleywise provides to the community, it is also the state’s only public teaching hospital. This new facility will only further the ability for future physicians and nurses to get the training they need through state-of-the-art devices and upgraded amenities.
“Our vision is to be nationally recognized for transforming care to improve community health,” Purves said. “Our mission is made possible through nearly 5,000 employees, volunteers, the District Medical Group, their physicians and staff, our services and our centers of excellence including the Level 1 Trauma program.
“We’re so happy we will finally have state-of-the-art facilities to house the renowned Arizona Burn Center that reflects the quality and compassion of the people who work there. It is the second largest and busiest burn center in the nation. We’re the largest provider of HIV care in the state, we have unique services like a Refugee Women’s Health Clinic and we have three behavioral health centers with nearly 400 beds.”
Valleywise Health is committed to serving the underserved and is Arizona’s only public teaching hospital. Valleywise Health consists of Valleywise Health Medical Center, Maryvale hospital, the only Level I Trauma Center in Maricopa County verified by the American College of Surgeons to care for both adults and children, Arizona’s only nationally verified Burn Center serving the entire Southwestern United States, the McDowell Healthcare Center, the largest provider of HIV primary care in Arizona, the Refugee Women’s Health Clinic, the Arizona Children’s Center, three behavioral health centers, and 11 neighborhood health centers.
“By teaming with its partners in the Creighton University Arizona Health Education Alliance, including Creighton, St. Joseph’s Hospital and District Medical Group, the entire community benefits from unparallelled expertise and physician training,” Mayor Gallego said. “Today I congratulate the leadership of Valleywise Health and its Board of Directors in making this historic day possible, thanks to your effort Valleywise Health will continue to touch thousands of lives for decades to come.”
