Contact: Banner Public Relations
media@bannerhealth.com
Sun Health Foundation Public Relations
media@sunhealth.org
SUN CITY, Ariz. (Oct. 2, 2018) – An expansion project at Banner Boswell Medical Center has itself been expanded.
In March, it was announced that Banner Health and Sun Health Foundation are partnering to fund the construction of a new $60.4 million Emergency room on the campus. The 40,000-square-foot Emergency department (ED) will provide 33-percent more patient beds and faster, easier access to emergency medical treatment.
Last week, Banner Health’s board of directors approved expanding the project to include construction of a new six-story patient tower shell, as well.
It was determined that completing the two projects at the same time would ultimately be less disruptive to Banner Boswell’s patients, campus operations and the surrounding community. Additionally, constructing the two projects together should ultimately save on construction costs.
“I am thrilled about the board’s decision to move forward,” said Banner Boswell CEO Debbie Flores. “Their decision reflects the confidence they have in our physicians, employees and volunteers, and it further demonstrates Banner’s unwavering commitment to this community.
“This is huge news for our patients and the community we serve,” she said.
The new tower shell will represent an additional $46 million investment into the community by nonprofit Banner Health. Combined with the new Emergency department, which the community is helping support through Sun Health Foundation, Banner Boswell is set to receive an investment totaling more than $106 million.
New patient tower shell
The new patient tower, which will partially sit atop the new Emergency room, will become the new main entry point for the hospital when it’s completed in the fall of 2020.
The tower’s first floor will contain the main lobby, gift shop, retail pharmacy, admitting desk and chapel. The five floors above the ED and lobby will remain “shelled” space, reserved for future inpatient rooms. “Shell space" is space constructed to meet future needs; it is space enclosed by an exterior building shell, but otherwise unfinished inside.
Emergency department
The new ED, projected to open in summer 2020, will feature distinct and separate ground-level entrances for walk-in patients and ambulances, different from the current layout, which has these two entrances in close proximity atop a parking structure.
Banner Boswell’s existing ED often runs at or near capacity, leading to longer wait times for less urgent patients. The new ED will increase the number of beds by a third—from 42 to 56—allowing the department to care for up to 60,000 ED patients annually. The current ED was built to handle up to 45,000 patients annually.
In addition to the new ED and patient tower, the project will convert the current 17,000-square-foot ED into a new unit for patients requiring short-term observation and create a shelled space for future build-out of a new cardiac catheterization lab.
Pre-construction demolition work began this summer and is expected to be completed this spring with the demolition of the existing Emergency department parking structure. Construction work will begin shortly thereafter, with the entire project scheduled for completion in time for the hospital’s 50th anniversary in 2020.
About Banner Boswell Medical Center
Banner Boswell Medical Center in Sun City, Arizona, specializes in heart care, cancer care, orthopedic surgery, physical rehabilitation, stroke care, skilled nursing and emergency care. Banner Boswell is part of Banner Health, a non-profit healthcare system with 28 hospitals in six states. Banner Boswell’s high-performing team has achieved many recognitions including five Top 100 Hospital awards and eight Top 50 Cardiovascular awards from Truven Health Analytics. For more information, visit www.BannerHealth.com/Boswell.
About Sun Health Foundation
Sun Health Foundation raises philanthropic support through individual contributions that help fund life-giving services and research at Banner Boswell Medical Center, Banner Del E. Webb Medical Center, and Banner Sun Health Research Institute, and support the Sun Health Wellness programs available to the community. Learn more at www.sunhealthfoundation.org.
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