Northwest Medical Center says it is investing $7.2 million into a new “freestanding emergency room” to serve the Vail and Rita Ranch communities.
The “Northwest Emergency Center at Vail” is scheduled to open in late 2015 and will be part of a growing number of freestanding emergency rooms in the U.S. It will be the first facility of its kind in Tucson, though not in Arizona. More than 400 exist across the U.S.
Construction is scheduled to begin in January.
The new center will be located 10146 East Old Vail Road in Houghton Town Center at the intersection of Houghton and Old Vail Roads.
Officials say the new facility will see people within a 10-mile radius of its southeast Tucson area location. That radius includes Vail, Rita Ranch, Corona de Tucson and those living north of the site off Houghton Road. There are approximately 33,000 households within that radius, Northwest Medical Center spokeswoman Kimberly Chimene says.
Freestanding emergency facilities have been popping up at the same time the number of hospital-based emergency departments has declined and demand in emergency departments has gone up.
Emergency services will be available 24 hours per day, seven days per week, officials with Northwest Medical Center say.
“Northwest Emergency Center at Vail will provide faster access to emergency care for people living in the Rita Ranch and Vail areas. We have been serving more than just ‘Northwest’ Tucson for many years and this is another example of our commitment to expand health-care in the greater metropolitan area,” Northwest Medical Center CEO Kevin Stockton said in a news release.
Northwest Medical Center officials say the new center will be equipped to treat patients with illnesses and injuries that require a higher level of care than urgent care facilities offer, with 12 private patient rooms and radiology and lab services on-site.
Many emergency services can be effectively managed at freestanding emergency departments without the need for transfer to a traditional hospital setting, officials say.
As its name suggests, there are no inpatient beds in freestanding emergency rooms. If a patient needs to be admitted to the hospital, they will be transported either to Northwest Medical Center or to a hospital of the patient’s choice, Chimene said.
More than 30 new jobs will be created to serve patients at the new center, including registered nurses and lab, imaging, admitting and environmental services staff.
Board-certified emergency physicians, registered nurses and other patient care providers will staff the center.
Northwest Medical Center is a 300-bed for-profit hospital owned by Tennessee-based Community Health Systems, which also owns Oro Valley Medical Center.
Another community outside of Tucson that’s scheduled to get its own emergency room in 2015 is Green Valley. The Green Valley Hospital, which includes an emergency room, is slated to open early next year.
