Free public tours of the nine-story tower under construction at Banner – University Medical Center Tucson, 1501 N. Campbell Ave., will be offered 4-5 p.m. March 29, April 5 and April 12.
The 670,000-square-foot tower is on schedule to welcome its first patients in April 2019. It will replace the older sections of the original hospital, which opened in 1971.
As many as 400 workers a day have been building the massive construction project, which began in 2016, about a year after nonprofit Banner Health entered into a 30-year academic affiliation agreement with the University of Arizona. As part of the affiliation agreement, Banner Health is investing about $427 million in the new tower and in renovations to the existing hospital to create a state-of-the-art academic medical center on the Tucson campus.
This investment is in addition to the $100 million Banner – University Medicine North outpatient facility that Banner opened on Campbell Avenue and Allen Street earlier this year.
Sundt l DPR is the contractor for the new tower at Banner – UMC Tucson; the facility was designed by Shepley Bulfinch of Phoenix and GLHN Architects & Engineers of Tucson.
When the tower opens in about a year, Banner – UMC Tucson will have a new main entrance, new operating rooms, diagnostic imaging and dedicated beds for burn patients. The hospital will feature a new cafeteria and 204 private rooms to replace the double rooms now shared by two patients in the original hospital.
To get a free “sneak peek” of the new facility, please call 520-694-6102 to reserve a spot on the hour-long guided tour.
All participants must wear closed-toed shoes and long pants. A safety helmet and vest will be provided for the tour.
About Banner – University Medical Center Tucson and South
Banner – University Medical Center Tucson, nationally ranked as a Best Hospital by U.S. News and World Report, and Banner – University Medical Center South, are part of Banner – University Medicine, a premier academic medical network. These institutions are academic medical centers for the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson. Included on the two campuses are Diamond Children's Medical Center and many specialty clinics. The two academic medical centers are part of Arizona-based Banner Health, one of the largest nonprofit health-care systems in the country, with 28 hospitals in six states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Nebraska, Nevada and Wyoming. For more information, visit www.BannerHealth.com/UniversityTucson or www.bannerhealth.com/UniversitySouth