40,000-square-foot healthcare center coming in 2012

The Maricopa City Council last night unanimously approved a development agreement with Banner Health for the construction of a 40,000-square-foot healthcare center. “From the time we were born as a city in 2003, we knew we would have to create a higher quality of life,” said Vice Mayor Edward Farrell. “That quality of life consisted of healthcare, jobs and education. By the time the city is 10 years old, we will have a healthcare facility, community college, shovel-ready employment sites and a city complex center. It is amazing.” The healthcare center, which is scheduled for first-phase completion in September 2012, will have office space to accommodate 18 physicians, and will offer X-Ray and laboratory services. The physicians will be a mix of primary-care doctors and specialists Banner pulls from its network to meet the needs of the community, according to Craig Jensen, system director of the project. Neither Banner Health nor the city of Maricopa is calling the new facility a hospital. “For a hospital, a community has to reach certain population and demographic trigger points,” Jensen said. “Maricopa is not there, but when the city does reach that point we are committed to building a hospital.” One of the reasons the healthcare provider decided to move forward with a facility in Maricopa according to Jensen was the urgent need for physicians in the community. According to numbers presented by Banner, a community the size of Maricopa should have approximately 50 specialists and primary-care physicians. Currently, Maricopa is served by a total of only seven physicians.

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