Banner Health plans to open a health center in Gilbert next year as it expands its services beyond the major hospitals it operates.
The center will offer primary care services, Banner spokeswoman Jennifer Ruble said.
“We have an increasing number of health centers that are coming into a variety of communities in the Valley,” Ruble said. “It’s more of an ambulatory care. Our existing facilities are mostly hospitals.”
The Gilbert location will be similar to one Banner is opening this May in Maricopa that will offer internal medicine, family medicine, pediatrics, lab services, imaging and OB/GYN care. Ruble said services at the Gilbert center are still under review.
The center is planned at the southeast corner of Gilbert and Warner Roads, near the Gilbert Municipal Center.
Banner would initially open a 24,000-square-foot center and expand as demand grows, Ruble said. The site will allow for a roughly 90,000-square-foot health center, according to Gilbert planning documents.
“We chose that location for its visibility, for its central location and also for its growth potential,” Ruble said.
Banner is in the process of buying 11.7 acres within a 37-acre vacant parcel. Banner is applying to change the type of commercial zoning to allow for the health facility. The preliminary opening date is the summer of 2013.
Gilbert has zoned the land for regional commercial, which had led to a Walmart proposal a decade ago. The retail giant backed down after neighbors opposed the big-box store. A neighborhood meeting for the Banner proposal did not generate any opposition.
Gilbert anticipates the Banner development will spur development on the surrounding vacant land.
The health care operator’s East Valley locations include Banner Gateway Medical Center in Gilbert. In Mesa, it operates Banner Baywood Medical Center, Cardon Children’s Medical Center and Banner Baywood Medical Center.
Contact writer: (480) 898-6548 or ggroff@evtrib.com
nationofthieves posted at 11:43 am on Sat, Apr 14, 2012.
Hey Banner - instead of claiming you are not making any money and at risk of having to downsize - why don't you take care of your employees and hire adequate staff and fulfill your promise to increase wages. The cuts you are making to employee benefits and raises is unjustified when you actually post record profits and continue to build new facilities.
Juggernaut8000 posted at 1:32 pm on Thu, Apr 12, 2012.
Can we make sure the illegals can take advantage of this and stick the bill to the taxpayer like all other hospitals?