Banner construction projects total $2 billion this year
The Phoenix Business Journal is reporting Phoenix-based Banner Health has 322 active construction projects totaling $1.9 billion this year.
That's up from 377 projects totaling $1.5 billion last year.
There are fewer projects this year than last year, but this year's projects are bigger, which is why the state's largest private employer is spending more money.
Two of Banner's biggest projects are on its main hospital campuses in Phoenix and Tucson.
Thursday, Banner broke ground on a $400 million 9-story, 670,000-square-feet hospital facility in Tucson and is in the midst of a $419 million new emergency department and 16-story patient tower on its Banner-University Medical Center Phoenix campus, which you might remember as Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center before Banner bought University of Arizona's health network for $1.2 billion.
The bulk of Banner's construction projects are in Arizona, with 97 projects totaling $307 million among Banner's operations in six other states, said Kip Edwards, vice president of development and construction for Banner Health.
In Arizona, Banner also has 105 projects totaling $330 million west of State Route 51 and another 74 active projects totaling $215 million east of SR 51.
Those projects range from a new behavioral health patient tower in Scottsdale to renovations on existing hospital floors, Edwards said.
Banner also is opening outpatient clinics throughout the Valley.
One is opening near Tatum Boulevard and Greenway Road, while another is being planned at 75th Avenue near Loop 101 in the West Valley.
"We've been looking at some opportunities to build up around Desert Ridge," Edwards said. "Our task right now is to push care more and more into the community. That's the future of health care."
He said he expects construction projects to taper off over the next few years.
"We're at a peak right now," he said. "To be perfectly honest, health care is a challenging business at the moment. We're working as hard as everyone to bring the cost of health care down so I think we are kind of at a peak of capital expenditures."
But that doesn't mean Banner won't acquire other health systems if the opportunity arises, he said.
To read the full story click here.