National healthcare real estate developer NexCore Group has broken ground in Glendale for the three-story, 127,243-square-foot Banner Health Center. The multispecialty facility will be Banner’s newest and largest health center to date.
The health center is being developed on a portion of 17.5 acres owned by Banner Health in the Aspera mixed-use development near the Agua Fria Loop 101 Freeway and 75th Avenue in Glendale, a northwest Phoenix suburb.
Speaking at the Jan. 29 groundbreaking celebration, Todd Varney, chief development officer and managing partner of Denver-based NexCore, said the new facility will bring a multitude of the most needed and anticipated services. It will also provide easy and convenient access to quality primary care and specialist services to the fast-growing area surrounding the Aspera development.
“Our goal as a developer is, of course, to bring facilities out of the ground. But, in the end, it’s really about how patients are treated, how Banner is represented, and how the community gets care in the good times and the bad times,” Mr. Varney said.
“Banner Health has a strong partner in this effort to bring our largest health center to the northwest Valley,” said Becky Kuhn, chief operating officer, Banner Health. “NexCore Group has an impeccable nationwide reputation for developing healthcare facilities because of its superior expertise to deliver quality environments and flexible spaces – all of which will help our providers facilitate the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease.”
NexCore’s team was selected in a competitive request for proposal (RFP) process for the Banner Health Center. The firm has developed, leased and/or owned more than 1 million square feet of healthcare facilities in Arizona and is slated to provide strategic facility and operational planning, design, development, construction, project management and financing for the project.
Remarking on the firm’s selection, Kip Edwards, vice president facilities services, Banner Health, said, “The big thing that made NexCore stand out from other developers is that they understood ambulatory facilities; they understood clinical operations.”
Mr. Edwards added, “They were willing to work with us and actually add to our knowledge and make this building better than it would have been otherwise. NexCore came in immediately with some ideas that we had not thought of that configured the building in a way that was far better than we were anticipating.”
The Banner Health Center will feature an “on-stage/off-stage” configuration, in which patients will have access to public areas and exam rooms, while health center staff will use “behind-the-scenes” hallways, meeting rooms and collaborative spaces not visible to the public. Patients benefit from this streamlined design because its saves time and reduces walking distances, and staff benefits because it provides them with private space for communication and collaboration, as well as ready access to patients and exam rooms.
In addition to NexCore and Banner, the project team includes architecture firm SmithGroup and contractor Haydon Building Corp. Mr. Varney says the team’s synergy has fostered an efficient and cooperative working relationship with the City of Glendale that is ensuring a smooth workflow as the Banner Health Center is constructed.
“Rarely have we seen a project go from concept to groundbreaking in less than eight months,” he said. “It’s very impressive. Usually it’s 12 to 14 months, sometimes longer depending on the municipality. Working with such wonderful partners who ask, ‘How can we help? How can we support you?’ does not happen everywhere.
“It seems everyone in the process is committed to embrace this new clinic, this outpatient center coming to this great community. As a result, this is one of the faster, more embracing endeavors we’ve done.”
The Banner Health Center will feature 128 exam rooms and 13 imaging rooms, and is set to offer comprehensive clinical services, including family medicine, pediatrics, orthopedics, general surgery, dermatology, gastroenterology, cardiology, endocrinology, internal medicine and OB/GYN, as well as lab, pharmacy and imaging services, plus a wellness trail around the site for patients and staff.
A grand opening for the facility is expected in early 2021.