City, state leaders welcome Creighton medical campus to Phoenix

PHOENIX – City and state leaders turned out Wednesday as Creighton University held a groundbreaking ceremony for its health sciences campus in central Phoenix.

Construction at the historic Park Central site, along Central Avenue south of Osborn Road, actually began in July.

The 180,000-square-foot facility, which carries a price tag approaching $100 million, is expected to be completed in 2021 and serve more than 800 students.

The campus will include a four-year medical school plus programs for nursing, occupational and physical therapy, pharmacy, physician assistants and emergency medical services.

Creighton is helping to transform healthcare throughout the state! AZ wishes @Creighton great success with the construction of its new campus here in Phoenix, and I look forward to seeing it action! @CreightonPres @MayorGallego @PlazaCos @BishopOlmsted @MRNowakowski pic.twitter.com/VJQQqinBvh

— Doug Ducey (@dougducey) September 25, 2019

“Arizona needs to grow our supply of health care professionals,” Gov. Doug Ducey said during Wednesday’s ceremony. “And that’s exactly what this new campus will help us do.

“From medicine and occupation therapy to nursing and so much more, the next generation of health science professionals will be trained right here, and Arizona couldn’t be more excited for all that’s yet to come.”

Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego and City Councilman Michael Nowakowski also were among the local dignitaries on hand to welcome the private Omaha, Nebraska-based Jesuit college’s expansion.

“We are extremely grateful to be in Phoenix and to be working with such great partners,” Rev. Daniel S. Hendrickson, Creighton’s president, said in a press release.

“Together, we hope to guide the changing medical landscape and bring the extraordinary skills and care of Creighton-educated health care professionals to the people who need them the most.”

Creighton has been sending medical students for rotations at Dignity Health St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center, which is adjacent to the Park Central property, for more than a decade, the release says.

The new campus is projected by the Greater Phoenix Economic Council to create more than 250 jobs and $300 million in total economic output, according to the release.

It will also anchor the revitalization of Park Central, the city’s first major shopping mall. Developers are modernizing the property into a mixed-use project with office space, retail shops, restaurants and apartments.

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