Phoenix Children’s Hospital is expanding in the southwest Valley. 

The hospital will open a 24/7 pediatric emergency department in its former Avondale urgent care facility and break ground on a three-story medical office next door offering more than 75 pediatric specialties.

That means parents could potentially take their children to an emergency department for something like a broken bone and follow up later with a specialist, without having to leave the region. 

Dr. Jared Muenzer, lead physician at the hospital, said this should be more convenient for parents who currently have to drive downtown to the hospital’s main hub for specialty services. 

“Our urgent care often sees patients in from Avondale that would be better served in an emergency department and not in an urgent care-type facility,” he said.

The decision to expand in Avondale comes amid immense city growth.

Phoenix Children’s Hospital estimated more than 28% of Maricopa County’s pediatric population lived in the West Valley in 2015. 

Avondale issued 550 housing permits in 2020, a 427% increase from 2019, said Avondale Assistant Economic Development Director Cheryl Covert. City officials anticipate more than 800 permits will be issued in 2021.

That growth has led to a noticeable uptick in medical need in the area.

More than 30,000 children in Avondale visited emergency departments last year, according to data from the Arizona Department of Health Services.

“We have a lot of patients in that community who need more acute care, in the forms of an emergency department,” Muenzer said. 

The ultimate goal is for the campus to treat all sorts of children, he said, from those who just need to stop in once to those with more complicated illnesses that require significant, ongoing care.

Kids who use the urgent care will still be able to get treatment at the emergency department.

“What we’ve recognized over the last decade is our patient population and our families really desire that care in their own backyard,” he said. “It’s an absolute necessity, and that’s what we’re trying to do.”

Impact on Avondale 

The $33.5 million facility, which includes the 35,000-square foot emergency department and 71,250-square-foot clinic, is expected to open in spring 2023 and bring 65 new jobs to the area.

The city’s health care corridor, situated along McDowell Road between Dysart Road and 99th Avenue, houses more than 65 health care companies within a five-mile radius, Covert said. 

One out of every 20 Avondale residents works in health care, and the city boasts almost 12,000 technology workers who live in or nearby the area on its website.

Economic development director Ken Chappa said the expansion should bring $450 million in direct and indirect benefits to Avondale over the next 10 years.  

More details on the facility 

Construction of the campus is not supposed to affect hours at the existing urgent care facility.

The emergency department will include 40 treatment rooms and six “quick turnover” beds.

The adjacent clinic’s physicians will offer more than 75 pediatric specialties like cardiology, neurology and neonatology, plus 68 patient rooms. The existing urgent care facility has 28. 

Muenzer said the addition of a pediatric-specific emergency department in the West Valley is important. 

“In terms of pediatrics, we know they’re not just little adults. Pediatric patients have somewhat different and complex physiology, and that’s what we specialize in.” 

Reach reporter Taylor Seely at [email protected] or 480-476-6116. Follow her on Twitter @taylorseely95 or Instagram @taylor.azc.

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