Rendering of the new Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo. Construction is expected to continue until 2019.
For 10 years Intermountain Healthcare has been acquired more than 75 homes on the south side of Utah Valley Regional Medical Centers hospital campus in Provo. Now that these homes have been acquired and demolished, workers are ready to begin on a large, 430 million dollar replacement project that will include a new patient tower, outpatient building, walking paths, and much more.
'We knew we needed more land to make this project work. The only option we had was to purchase homes to the south of the hospital. We began this process about 10 years ago', said UVRMC spokeswoman Janet Frank.
The current campus is nearing eighty years old having been built in 1939.Steve Smoot, Intermountain Healthcare's South Region Vice President and Utah Valley Regional CEO said in a press release last Wednesday,'As the community has grown and the need for more advanced, high quality healthcare has increased, we have responded by designing a campus that will not only allow for leading edge care today, but allows for the same level of treatment for decades to come'
This project is expected to continue on until 2019 with the new buildings being finished in the fall of 2018 then the existing patient building being will be torn down.
To make room for the new tower, the current rehabilitation facility will be torn down in the next four to five weeks. The hospital has been making room inside to house the rehab service on the third floor while the new a tower is under construction.
According to current project renderings the new patient tower will be relocated to the southwest corner of the hospital campus and will be 12 stories tall as opposed to the current seven. New patient rooms in the tower will be large and private with views of the mountains and the valley. The new outpatient building will be built were the current helipad is located. This outpatient building will house multiple clinics and an InstaCare. The new helipad will be located closer to the patient tower.
Sunni Archibald, a mom of two and a longtime Provo resident said, 'iI think all of the changes are great. Provo is growing and we need a hospital that will grow with us. I am excited for the new InstaCare building because as a mom you never know when you might need to make a visit.
Additional changes and improvements include a large pond and waterfall, a walking path around the campus, stairwells with natural light, and increased parking.
Construction will create some challenges for patrons, mostly in parking. 'Construction will create parking challenges, not traffic challenges', Frank Said. There will be free valet parking in front of the West building Monday through Friday 7:30 am to 5pm. There is also patient parking lots on the south side of 940 North between 300 and 500 West as well as parking on the lower level of the parking terrace.