By By Dan Hounsell

While the COVID-19 pandemic has delayed or canceled a host of services and projects for healthcare facilities nationwide, some organizations — especially those seeing population growth in their service areas — are going ahead with construction projects to expand their capacities and services.

For example, work has begun on the $243 million, 351,000-square-foot expansion and renovation of the Banner Gateway Medical Center Tower in Gilbert, Ariz., according to Healthcare Construction+Operations. The expansion essentially doubles the size of the medical center campus, addressing growing needs for women’s services and cancer care by bringing an additional patient tower, an expanded diagnostics and treatment area, and more parking.

The planned expansion includes adding a second five-story patient tower. The new tower is a 208,500-square-foot addition that will bring 109 new patient beds to the facility and provides the ability to increase the capacity of patient beds by an additional 72 to 358 total beds. The project also includes a three-level, 85,000-square-foot expansion to the Diagnostics and Treatment building on the west side of campus, including an expansion to the emergency department, as well as a two-level expansion to the existing Diagnostics and Treatment building on the east side of campus.