YRMC’s Plans for Meeting the Community’s Health Needs Come to Fruition, Making it a State-of-the-Art Healthcare System
By Catherine Adams
With the drop of a beam, Yavapai Regional Medical Center (YRMC) crossed another milestone in its long-term commitment to expand and enhance medical services throughout the region. This beam, the last structural beam to fall into place, seals the framework for a new Health and Wellness Center on the campus of YRMC West in Prescott.
A recent ceremony marked the event’s significance. YRMC President and CEO John Amos, along with other hospital leadership and staff, took the opportunity to sign the featured beam before a crane hoisted it up and away to its new home.
This new 100,000-square-foot modern medical structure, on track for completion in 2021, will house services such as cardiology, primary care, neurosurgery, physical rehabilitation and preventive medicine. The new 450-space parking structure on the northeast side of the YRMC West campus will open at the same time as the new Health and Wellness Center and support its parking needs.
“Ultimately, the new multi-story Health and Wellness Center and the parking garage will be directly connected by two overhead walkways, on a floor-by-floor basis,” said YRMC Director of Construction, Michael Forry. “The center will also be LEED certified, ‘green’ sustainable, and constructed with environmentally friendly materials and practices.”
Recent Improvements
“This milestone is just one in a series of strategic expansion plans for YRMC,” said Kenneth Boush, Director of Marketing and Communications. “We’ve been assessing the health needs of our community for years and planning ahead for feasible growth. Now you’re beginning to see those plans come to fruition. We’ve recently completed several multimillion-dollar expansion projects, and more are currently underway.”
Earlier this year the hospital completed a new parking lot for employees. It sits diagonally across the street from the west campus at 900 W. Iron Springs Road at what was formerly Miller Valley Elementary School. YRMC also moved the wellness center at 930 W. Division Street down the road to 1112 Iron Springs Road. There, a remodeled building now houses the Pendleton Center West. The old wellness center building was demolished to make way for the construction of the new three-story YRMC Health and Wellness Center.
Responsible Growth
At YRMC, capital required for growth and expansion is generated directly from patient revenue and community support through the YRMC Foundation. No property taxes are levied to fund Yavapai Regional Medical Center programs or to pay for capital improvements.
Having started in 1942 as a small community hospital, YRMC is now a state-of-the-art healthcare system with two acute care hospitals, a network of primary and specialty care clinics, outpatient health and wellness centers, cardiac diagnostic centers, and outpatient medical imaging centers. This network serves 5,500 square miles and covers the communities of Prescott, Prescott Valley, Chino Valley, Dewey, Humboldt, Mayer, Paulden, Bagdad, Yarnell, Kirkland, Skull Valley, and Crown King.
YRMC continually assesses new ways to serve these communities. And the best is yet to come.