Maricopa makes strides in health care

As a former New York City resident, Vicky Tapas, 59, isn’t comfortable living in a community where the nearest hospital is more than 20 miles away.

After all, there are about 60 hospitals located in the Big Apple’s metro area, and as Tapas puts it, a mall, movie theater and shopping center on every corner. 

“I get a little nervous, because I’m getting a little older now,” she said. 

Tapas has lived in Maricopa for more than five years and previously considered moving back East for the sole fact her new home doesn’t have an emergency room. Today, Tapas is pushing up against a deadline she’s set for herself: If no hospital is built by 2014, she’ll leave.

Unfortunately for Tapas, 2014 is expected to pass without a new hospital opening in town. But for the rest of the community, there’s good news: Plans are in place for two hospitals to open in future years. 

With a housing development boom that essentially escalated Maricopa’s population overnight, businesses could not match the speed of the city’s growth — something city residents, like Tapas, have noticed. However, in the health-care fields, Maricopa has made great strides. 

Recent agreements and new facilities with major health-care providers, Dignity Health and Banner Health, have boosted the city’s health services, and could in turn act as a magnet for other businesses. 

“Success breeds more success,” said the city’s Economic Development Director Micah Miranda. 

Miranda said Maricopa is an attractive place for health-care providers because of its designation as a medically underserved area and because it’s one of the fastest growing communities in Pinal County.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which compiles data from states, identified the Maricopa area as a primary care health professional shortage area in December 2009 — its latest designation. In an October report, the Arizona Department of Health Services, which passes state data to the federal government, identified Maricopa and surrounding lands as a medically underserved area. 

New services and future projects from Banner and Dignity are working to counter these designations.

In July 2011, Banner broke ground on a new health facility at Porter Road near Pacana Park and opened its doors to the public in May 2012. 

The health center provides several services to residents, including routine physicals, pediatric care, women’s care, immunizations and others.

Councilman Marvin Brown, an elected official since 2008, said efforts to attract Banner to the city date back to 2005. The health provider held a series of meetings with the city and started showing serious interest in late 2008, eventually closing a deal for a new facility.

“The rest, as they say, is history,” Brown said. 

Brown explained the same was true for Dignity — it took months of meetings before the health provider solidified plans to come to Maricopa. 
This spring, Dignity Health opened its doors to a new urgent-care facility in a retail center off John Wayne Parkway. The center, which is open noon to 9 p.m. every day, has seven exams rooms and an on-site radiology lab.

The health-care provider currently owns 18.56 acres at the intersection of John Wayne Parkway and Smith-Enke Road — the future site of an emergency hospital. Construction on the two-story building — estimated to begin in 2016 — will include 22 emergency department treatment rooms, two surgical suites, four patient beds and outpatient imaging. 

Suzanne Pfister, vice president of external affairs for Dignity Health Arizona, said the health provider’s current focus has been opening the Maricopa urgent-care facility and finishing up other projects, including construction of a new patient tower at Chandler Regional Medical Center that will add 96 beds and is scheduled to open late next year. 

Pfister said Dignity Health will keep track of the number of people who visit Maricopa’s new urgent-care facility and those who are in need of being transferred to a hospital, giving the health provider a better understanding of the community need for a hospital. The numbers could justify moving up the target date for construction, she said. 

Brown said Banner also has plans to open a hospital in the Maricopa area.

However, Becky Armendariz, Banner’s spokeswoman, said the city’s population isn’t currently large enough to justify a Banner hospital and no “firm plans” are in place for such a project.

“However, as Maricopa continues to grow we look forward to discussions with our partners about how to best meet the community’s future needs — which could include a new hospital.”

From an economic standpoint, Miranda, the city’s economic development director, said the move of Banner and Dignity into the community already has piqued the interest of retailers. And with a hospital opening, support services such as a floral and linen shops are certain to follow.

Miranda would not say whether other health-care providers are looking to move into Maricopa, adding it’s the city’s policy not to announce a new business without the company’s approval. 

With Banner and Dignity now established within Maricopa, Miranda said the basic health care needs most important to residents are in place. 
While the nearest hospitals — Chandler Regional, 22 miles north of the city, and Casa Grande Regional Medical Center, 24 miles to the southeast — are a distant drive for residents, emergency medical care is always a quick call away.