Health facilities mark important anniversaries

Banner Health Center is approaching its two-year anniversary in Maricopa and Dignity Health Urgent Care will soon mark its first birthday.

On the east side of the city, Banner Health, 17900 N. Porter Road, opened its doors May 2012. The center has a staff of seven physicians, practicing adult and pediatric medicine. The facility has three nurse practitioners and an in-office lab and radiology services.

To the west at 20750 N. John Wayne Parkway, Dignity Health Urgent Care will celebrate its first year anniversary April 29.

Representatives from both said the health-care facilities are committed to serving underserved populations.

Dignity Health Urgent Care is part of one of the five largest health-care systems in the country, said Christy Naughton, company public relations specialist. It is based out of San Francisco. Valley facilities include St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center, Barrow Neurological Institute, Chandler Regional Medical Center and Mercy Gilbert Medical Center.

The Maricopa urgent care has 10 full-time and part-time physicians board certified in family medicine, nurses x-ray technicians and a lab, said its medical director, Dr. Ricky Swearingen.

“We see everyone who walks through the door — we don’t turn anyone away,” Swearingen said. “We see and treat everybody regardless of their ability to pay.”

Dr. Dawn Sorenson, pediatrician at Banner Health Center, said: “We have new patients calling every day — this is definitely a growing practice.”

Sorenson lives in Maricopa and her children attend school here.

“This isn’t just my job,” she said. “This is my community. I wanted to do somehting more than just a job.”

Bernice Berry, practice manager at the Banner, said the OB/GYN practice has been growing by “leaps and bounds.”

Banner Health Center is part of a Western states health-care system that includes more than a dozen facilities in the metro area.

Mindy Smith, COO of Banner Medical Group, said the Banner Health care system decided to open a facility in Maricopa because it is a growing community in need of additional primary care physicians.

Smith said the demand for health care in Maricopa the past two years has “exceeded our expectations.”

“We are already looking at opportunities to grow,” she said.

Berry said the health center was built for future expansion. A part of the interior is a shell.

“They set us up with the opportunity to grow within the building,” Berry said.

The Banner Health Center offers same-day appointments, extended evening hours, and is open on Saturdays.

Swearingen said Dignity Health chose to open in Maricopa because its physicians were already seeing residents from Maricopa at its Ahwatukee Foothills facility and there was an “unmet need” for physicians in Maricopa.

Dignity Health Urgent Care is open noon to 9 p.m. seven days a week, 365 days a year.

Swearingen said he is not aware of any plans to expand the facility at this time.

Dignity Health has purchased 18.56 acres at the intersection of State Route 347 and Smith-Enke Road to build a free-standing emergency hospital, according to a company press release. Initial plans call for a 34,800 square-foot, two-story hospital.

City Economic Development Director Micah Miranda said Dignity’s plans are “tentative” and the health-care provider has not submitted any formal plans to the city.

Swearingen pointed out his facility sees patients other physicians in Maricopa do not have the time to see because of the size of their caseloads.