JUNE 2021 // Quad Cities Business News
@quadcitiesbusinessnews
Northern Arizona Healthcare’s Josh Tinkle, Flo Spyrow and Steve Eiss are among the healthcare architects of the future, designing a holistic and high-tech wellness village to be among the most innovative healing centers in the country. Photo by Bonnie Stevens
Plans Underway for Destination Health Village NAH reimagines health care with state-of-the-art hospital, ambulatory center and wellness hub in the pines
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By Bonnie Stevens, QCBN
orthern Arizona Healthcare has a $750 million vision for how health care can best be delivered in a unique healing environment, anchored by a state-of-the-art hospital and ambulatory center amidst the ponderosa pines. The proposed Health and Wellness Village is to include businesses and services and is situated on 190 acres of NAH property on the west side of Interstate 17, north of Fort Tuthill County Park, near the Flagstaff Airport. “We’re embarking on an ambitious program to enhance the quality of care we provide,” said NAH President and CEO Flo Spyrow. “This will not only be the biggest project in Northern Arizona, but likely the biggest project for years to come in all of Arizona, bringing jobs and economic viability as well as amazing health care to citizens of Northern Arizona,” she said in a news conference delivered through Zoom. Chief Administrative Officer Josh Tinkle called it “a momentous occasion” as NAH began the process of making the vision a reality by submitting its application for zoning modifications to the City of Flagstaff in late April. “You can work in health care your entire career and never have the opportunity to reimagine what health care should be delivered,” said Tinkle. “What we envision is not only an acute hospital with an ambulatory campus, but really a wellness village that’s a destination for all of Northern Arizona. Some of the new features that we expect to see on the platform itself, being the hospital and ambulatory clinic, will be more open spaces, more natural light, more modern infrastructure and technology to take care of all the patients, [with] more respite spaces for families. And then on the broader campus, we expect to see more wellness offerings such as yoga, healthy food options, eventually some residential development over our commercial spaces, etc.” NAH Vice President of Construction and
Real Estate Steve Eiss says the project, expected to be approved by the end of the year, will be a “huge economic development engine” for Flagstaff, starting with the development process. “We are anticipating at peak, 750 to 800 construction workers on site at any given time,” he said. “That is not inclusive of engineering and architecture staff that we feel will be in the 50 to 60 jobs range. So, we’re talking about four to five solid years of construction creating not only jobs in that industry, but also dollars to be spent in the Flagstaff community by these workers.” “That doesn’t include the other 120 acres that will be developed into the future and the construction and businesses that will locate there and begin to contribute to the economic viability and thriving, quite frankly, of Flagstaff,” added Spyrow. Officials say a Health and Wellness Village is a relatively new concept in health care, bringing onto one site clinical and hospital-based health care, outpatient services, rehabilitation, sports medicine, and residential and patient or provider housing. Amenities such as spas, gyms, health food stores and restaurants also could be in the mix as all of the experiences are designed to have a central location for services, and to focus on keeping populations well. “We are developing a healthy lifestyle destination in Flagstaff that will take care of Northern Arizona residents with an emphasis on wellness, innovation, virtual and worldclass care,” said Tinkle. “We will create a gathering place for the community. This will be a sanctuary highly integrated with its natural environment that helps community members relieve stress and engage in healthy lifestyle choices.” NAH officials say the concept for the health village is being influenced by the impact of COVID-19. “Through the pandemic, we went through some really tough times with our staff and all the patients that we take care of. The Continued on page 43
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