Banner Health Plans Gateway Medical Expansion

By Tasha Anderson for AZBEX 
Plans for a large expansion to the Banner Gateway Medical Center have recently made their way to the Town of Gilbert’s Planning Commission on October 7th. 
The original Banner Gateway Medical Center, located at 1900 N. Higley Road, opened in the fall of 2007 and currently consists of a five-story patient tower housing 180 beds, and a two-story Diagnostic & Treatment (D&T) facility. According to the project documents, the original master site plan allowed for “two additional bed towers and the expansion of the D&T facility.” 
Banner Health’s expansion plans include the construction of one new five-story patient tower consisting of 181 new patient beds at full build-out and will be attached to the existing tower to the east. The new tower is anticipated to be built in two phases, which will include 85 beds for phase one and 96 beds for phase two. 
Plans also include the expansion of the existing D&T facility located north of the existing tower. Both the east and west sides of the building will be expanded and will be two-stories high, with a basement. “The east side of the D&T expansion will provide expanded Surgery Department support spaces, expanded administrative function, and a re-worked Emergency Department entrance and waiting lobby,” the documents state. 
An outdoor, landscaped courtyard will be centrally located between the existing and proposed patient towers, utilizing plants that complement the current landscaping on the existing campus. 
Two new surface parking lots are proposed for the site, one located west of the proposed tower and the other located south of Banner Gateway Drive, which is currently a vacant lot. A total of 730 parking spaces will be provided for the expansion, bringing the total parking spaces for the entire campus to 2,805. 
According to the documents the current site is 56.4 acres. The new additions will bring the total site area to approximately 63.5 acres. 
The project was brought before the Planning Commission on October 7th as a request to review the site plan, landscaping, grading and drainage, elevations, and more. There was no vote for approval. The project still needs to go before the Gilbert Town Council for approval. 
In an email to BEX researchers, Banner Health expects to begin construction close to the end of this year of very early 2021, and that the pandemic, while moving the majority of their design work remote using video conferencing, has not slowed anything down.