Phoenix City Council approves a $50 million investment into ASU Health

PHOENIX — City officials have approved a $50 million investment to create a massive new medical headquarters at Arizona State University’s downtown bioscience campus.

On Tuesday, the Phoenix City Council agreed to allocate the funds to help create ASU Health HQ, a five-story, 175,000-square-foot school that will sit at the northeast corner of Fourth and Fillmore streets.

ASU says the school will break from the traditional medical school model. Instead of siloed academic programs, clinical partnerships will drive both research and education to develop solutions that improve patient care and health outcomes.

“This is a really exciting series of projects,” Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego said during a Tuesday meeting. “We are incredible leaders in areas like semiconductors, and we wanted to make sure that we took that leadership and put it into new areas, including bioscience and health care.”

How will the City of Phoenix support ASU Health HQ?

Under the plan, the city will sign an intergovernmental agreement with the Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) to develop ASU Health HQ on leased city-owned property.

ABOR is the main financial powerhouse behind the project, pouring around $160 million into downtown Phoenix to construct the building.

The city of Phoenix’s financial support for the project will come from two sources: $12 million from the 2023 General Obligation Bond Program and roughly $38 million from the Sports Facilities, Biosciences and Tourism Fund.

City officials believe it’s a good investment because it will also help support knowledge-based tourism.

“It will help us build on the great leadership we already have in medical devices and wearables with so many companies from GE to Gore that are already doing great work in the city of Phoenix,” Gallego said.

How the new health center benefits both ASU Health HQ and the City of Phoenix

ASU School of Medicine and Advanced Medical Engineering will anchor ASU Health HQ, which is large enough to house several other schools.

The building will also house the John Shufeldt School of Medicine and Medical Engineering, which blends clinical education with artificial intelligence, systems thinking, engineering, interprofessional collaboration, and humanism.

“We’ll be able to produce more doctors for our community focusing on preparing a new kind of physician, one who is fluent in technology, data and innovation, and one who will make Phoenix residents healthier,” Gallego said.

ASU Health HQ will also be home to the School of Technology for Public Health and professional training programs in the Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation and the College of Health Solutions.

Overall, ASU Health HQ will have a massively positive impact on the city, according to its mayor.

We just increased support for ASU Health’s new downtown location, strengthening our position as a premier innovation & bioscience city.

A key priority of mine is addressing occupational health—including cancer that has afflicted many firefighters & other Phoenix city employees. pic.twitter.com/ZMMAy9Q5I6

— Mayor Kate Gallego (@MayorGallego) March 25, 2026

“With this proposed agreement, we’ve made sure that ASU Health tackles many challenges in the medical world, but it will place special emphasis on issues that matter to us in Phoenix,” Gallego said.

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