Valley hospital celebrates expansion groundbreaking

Banner Estrella Medical Center near the Loop 101 and Thomas Road is expanding.

The hospital is kicking off construction of a new patient tower that will house 175 new beds and create at least 200 new jobs.

Banner Estrella Medical Center CEO Deb Krmpotic said the new tower will help speed up service.

“Part of our problem in our emergency department is that patients need to be admitted and there is no place to put them because we’re at capacity,” she said. “This will help the waits in the emergency department by placing people more expeditiously.”

Krmpotic said the construction of the new tower will bring hundreds of construction jobs over the next three years.