Green Valley‘s long-awaited first hospital is to open in early June.
The $72 million, three-story building, at 4455 S. Interstate 19 frontage road, is just off Interstate 19 and north of Canoa Ranch Drive. That’s about 30 miles south of downtown Tucson.
The for-profit hospital will have 50 general acute-care beds and a 12-bed emergency room. It will serve about 50,000 people in and around Green Valley, which is home to many retirees, and the rapidly growing Sahuarita area.
It also is fully equipped with medical imaging devices, a full laboratory and blood bank, and an inpatient pharmacy, and has the capabilities to treat infectious diseases.
The building features a helipad to transfer patients who need specialized care such as neurosurgery to Tucson-area hospitals, said David S. Wanger, the hospital’s chief executive officer.
The Scottsdale-based McDowell Enterprises chose to build a hospital in Green Valley because of the community’s need for easily accessible medical care, Wanger said. Until it opens, Green Valley residents have to drive nearly 40 minutes to Tucson for emergency medical services.
“The hospital is essentially set up for the demographics of our community,” said Wanger.
Green Valley residents are largely seasonal, and 72 percent are over age 65.
A 2010 survey of community needs conducted by the Green Valley Community Council found that the No. 1 issue for residents was the lack of a hospital.
“The biggest thing that’s going to help us is the emergency room and not having to drive 25 miles to Tucson,” said Don Weaver, president of the Green Valley Community Council.
Besides convenience, the hospital will boost Green Valley’s economy, said Jim Di Giacomo, president of the Green Valley-Sahuarita Chamber of Commerce. Each year, about $340 million leaves the Green Valley-Sahuarita area and goes to Tucson hospitals, Wanger said.
Green Valley Hospital is expected to bring about 250 full-time jobs to the area. Administrators are still looking to fill about 100 positions, most of them registered nurses and medical technicians, said Charlotte Fick, the new hospital’s human resources director.
In addition to the hospital, the campus includes three medical office buildings with another 10 acres for future development. Phoenix-based The Core Institute, which will perform surgeries and run the hospital’s orthopedics department, has leased 8,500 square feet of office space for physical therapy.
The four operating rooms are oversized to allow for a high number of orthopedic surgeries, hospital CEO Wanger said.
Tucson Medical Center in 2012 had entered into a “memo of understanding” to develop and operate a Green Valley Hospital with McDowell, but pulled out of the project in 2013. It is now privately funded through investors.
An original planned opening date of May has been pushed back to around June 1.
