health plan coverage — strongly favor the Valley and thus reduce the investment risk of locating here.” This past month saw a number of new initiatives launch that promise to further boost the quality of facilities while also addressing the shortage — creating an extraordinarily dynamic period for healthcare in Arizona as a whole. Just to rattle off a few that have been announced in the past few weeks: • Banner Health — which just finished building a new tower at Good Samaritan Hospital, among other major expansions — announced an initiative to hire 1,500 new employees to help fill current and future needs. • Barrow Neurological Institute and the Ben and Catherine Ivy Foundation launched the Ivy Brain Tumor Center, a $50 million initiative to advance research into the kind of cancers that cost Sen. John McCain his life, among countless others. • The Mayo Clinic announced an almost $650 million expansion in Arizona, growth that will nearly double the size of its Phoenix campus by adding 1.4 million square feet in new facilities. Dubbed the “Arizona Forward Project,” the new initiative is being done “to meet the increasing demand to treat patients with complex health conditions in the growing Southwest.” • Creighton University (disclosure: a client of mine) announced the construction of a new $100 million medical campus in central Phoenix, and will start offering a four-year medical school program as well as expanding their programs in nursing and other disciplines. “The healthcare industry makes up 13 percent of NEXT DOORS CONTINUED 30 FRONTDOORS MEDIA | OCTOBER 2018

the employment diversity in the region and we expect this to continue growing,” Camacho said. “In the City of Phoenix alone there is $2 billion in bio capital being invested. With 17 major projects in the pipeline, we’re seeing nothing but opportunity.” Lupica agrees. “Healthcare organizations don’t always have a choice of markets where they can make a major facility investment,” he said. “In this metropolitan area, they do. In most markets, the supply and infrastructure of hospitals and related facilities are already firmly planted. In fact, most markets are over-bedded and not great candidates for the addition of new hospitals. Arizona has none of that. New providers are welcome, and they know it.” The upside is more than just increased availability of care. Arizona has long been a healthcare destination, but may be more than ever as these new initiatives and facilities become part of the healthcare landscape. The economic impact of the healthcare industry on the state is massive, but the impact on quality of life for Arizona residents is significant as well. So maybe Arizona isn’t the cure for Grandma Sadie’s cough. But Grandma Sadie — and the rest of your family — can enjoy some of the world’s finest healthcare right here in the Valley. Tom Evans CONTRIBUTING EDITOR @TEvans927 Rendering of the new Creighton University health sciences building. OCTOBER 2018 | FRONTDOORS MEDIA 31