An architect’s rendering of a redesigned Banner – University Medical Center Tucson shows an 11-story tower and a new main entrance.
Phoenix-based Banner Health, which has owned Tucson’s only academic medical center for a little more than a week, publicly released the rendering this weekend.
The 11-story tower would be taller than any of the existing hospital structures. The current facility goes as high as eight stories, hospital spokeswoman Katie Riley said, emphasizing that the sketch is very preliminary, requires zoning approval and could change.
The tower would be on land immediately west of the current hospital structure.
Officials would not elaborate on the design other than to say that construction on rebuilding the hospital, which is at 1501 N. Campbell Ave., would begin in 2016, and that it would include a new entrance and lobby.
The new entrance appears to be at what is currently the emergency entrance of the hospital, on the west side.
Diamond Children’s and an accompanying recent hospital expansion project are expected to remain as they are. But the older part of the hospital will be gutted and rebuilt, and the new tower constructed.
The construction project is expected to cost $500 million or more, and to take three years.
Banner officials have been communicating with the adjacent Jefferson Park Neighborhood Association. The neighborhood, which includes 900 homes, has not raised any objections.
“So far they seem reasonable to deal with,” association board member Bob Schlanger said of Banner, emphasizing that the association to date has not taken an official position on the project. “It looks like they are going to really buffer the neighborhood.”
Schlanger added that he would much rather have a hospital than a mini-dorm in the neighborhood. Jefferson Park has in the past been both active and vocal in regulating the construction of mini-dorms marketed to university students.
Banner’s intent is to rebuild an aging building that was originally constructed in 1971, Kathy Bollinger, president of Banner — University Medicine Division, told the Star in a January interview.
“We are replacing the core of the hospital,” Bollinger said. “At the end of the day, because of the lobby and other new portions, it will absolutely feel like a new hospital.”
The hospital has 479 beds. The idea of building a bigger hospital is more about building a state-of-the art facility than more patient beds, Bollinger said then. She said that in the future, more health care will be on an outpatient basis and that only very sick and complex cases will need hospitalization.
The University of Arizona, which had previously owned and operated the university campus hospital, privatized it in 1984.
The hospital was included with no book value in the Banner deal, which took effect Feb. 28, when Banner merged with the financially struggling UA Health Network.
The UA owned the hospital land and sold it to Banner for $60 million, according to terms of the deal, which also called for a $500 million investment into Tucson facilities and $261 million to an academic enhancement fund.
