Developer: City’s 2nd hospital to open within 2 years

The city’s second hospital will be up and running within two years, according to a spokesman for the developer.

“We’re hoping for Planning & Zoning approval next month and council approval in July,” said Dr. Ed Johnson, a board member of S2 BioTech, the company developing a medical campus at Copper Sky. “The hospital is the first project and our first priority. That will include the hospital, surgery center and medical office building. Construction will take 18-24 months, and the hospital portion is our first priority. We are lining up contractors and will be ready to go as soon as we get our approvals.

“We will certainly break ground this year.”

He said the group is also making progress on the ancillary services it intends to offer.

“We’ve already got signed leases for the outpatient surgical center and behavioral health hospital,” Johnson said. Houston-based Nutex Health Care will run the hospital but said he could not identify at this time the entities that would operate the other two facilities.

Once the initial hospital components are built out, the condominium and hotel portions of the project will begin, according to Johnson. He said he anticipates full buildout of the medical campus to take about five years.

The three-story, 45,000-square-foot hospital will have 40 beds initially. The first and second floors will be operational immediately, with the third floor slated for eventual expansion.

The hospital will offer overnight stays and inpatient care and will be able to “serve about 90 percent of what comes in the door,” Johnson said. More serious cases may still need to be taken to trauma centers in Chandler or Casa Grande.

The project also will feature “a couple hundred” condominiums and 125-150-room hotel. Johnson said his group wants to bring not just health care, but broader contributions to Maricopa.

“We want to be a part of the solutions,” he said. “This campus is being designed as a live/work/play model. We’re trying to minimize the need to drive to work, and there will be plenty of social, entertainment and dining options within the park.”

Johnson said S3 BioTech is already in discussions with hotel franchisees for the site.

The group’s purchase of three city parcels was approved last week by City Council. Johnson said two of the parcels totaling 4.82 acres at the southeast corner of West Bowlin Road and Greythorn Drive will be combined and used for a future medical development.

“That land will have a use that is medically related,” Johnson said. “It could be anything from a children’s hospital to a rehab center or anything in between. We want to understand the needs of city beyond just the hospital and medical office components. Once we do, we’ll adapt the use of that facility to the specific needs of the city at that time.”

The Maricopa police communications facility is housed in an 8,151-square-foot building on that site and will continue to operate there until the city completes construction on its new police building late this year. S3 BioTech will use space in the building as a sales center for the medical campus.