Northern Arizona Healthcare Health and Wellness Village to Benefit Community

Northern Arizona Healthcare (NAH) is committed to delivering high-quality health care for our patients in Flagstaff and the Northern Arizona region. As we look to the future, it is important we plan for the health care needs of the growing and changing communities we are honored to serve.

A significant part of our continued commitment to improving health and healing people includes our proposed Health and Wellness Village, which will be anchored by a new ambulatory care center and hospital, to replace the current Flagstaff Medical Center (FMC) campus. While we have delivered outstanding care at FMC through the last 50 years, we have outgrown the current location and exhausted the options to expand or retrofit the current campus with the latest health care technologies and innovations.

To ensure we can continue to provide the most up-to-date treatments our patients and community deserve, over the next five years, we will make our largest investment ever in Northern Arizona – more than $800 million – to build a state-of-the-art hospital and ambulatory care center and to provide next-generation treatment options for our community. The future Health and Wellness Village near Fort Tuthill in Flagstaff would allow us to integrate medical, surgical, emergency, ambulatory and other health care services – all under one roof.

Patient Benefits

The proposed Health and Wellness Village is being carefully designed with our patients in mind. The new campus will include expanded clinical options such as more comprehensive oncology services, expanded patient therapies and rehabilitation, a wound-healing program with hyperbaric chambers, and convenient outpatient imaging.

We’ve also taken into consideration how to improve Emergency Department care by including a Linear Track design that will allow us to be more responsive to patient volumes and establishing “universal” exam and treatment rooms to maximize clinical and operational flexibility. We’ll also be able to establish a low-acuity, quick-look bay, which will help decrease waiting time for patients.

The layout of patient rooms also will improve how we provide care now and into the future. For example, we will offer private, suite-style patient rooms. Each room will be larger than the patient rooms at our current Flagstaff campus. And we will provide all patients with full bathrooms and in-room couches for patients and their visitors, as well as large windows allowing more natural light into each room. Each of these are features that will help improve patient experience and well-being.

Community Benefits

Our plan is to create a campus that will benefit the whole community and blend into the area where it is built. The new campus will be integrated into the natural setting as the region’s first-of-its-kind concept focused on holistic health and wellness. It is intended to serve as a community gathering spot with amenities that will complement NAH’s hospital and ambulatory care center. This will include new housing and hotel lodging as well as new health-centric dining, retail and grocery options. The future campus will also extend Flagstaff’s outdoor activities with a 22-acre natural retreat with trails that will be integrated into Flagstaff’s existing trail system.

Looking to the future of Flagstaff, access to high-quality health care services is a top consideration for current and future residents and area employers. By investing in a new hospital and ambulatory care center, NAH will be contributing to Northern Arizona’s long-term economic vitality and growth. Additionally, upon full build-out, it’s estimated the Health and Wellness Village will generate an additional $389 million per year in economic benefit for Flagstaff and Northern Arizona over and above the existing Flagstaff Medical Center, as well as $4.5 million in annual tax revenue for local jurisdictions like the Flagstaff Unified School District and Coconino Community College.

Timeline

Pending approvals from the City of Flagstaff, the campus will be built in multiple phases, beginning with an ambulatory care center scheduled to open in 2025 and the new hospital opening in approximately 2027. FBN

By Josh Tinkle

Josh Tinkle is the chief operating officer of Northern Arizona Healthcare. For more information on the Health and Wellness Village, please visit nahealth.com/expansion.