Henderson Hospital foundation pouring signals advance of Union Village

By Jackie Valley

Friday, July 10, 2015 | 2 a.m.

Henderson city and Valley Health System officials are hoping a new development project will pave the way for the city to have a healthier economy — and healthier people.

Developers, hospital administrators and city officials gathered Thursday on a dirt-covered parcel on the corner of Gibson Road and Galleria Drive to mark the foundation pouring for Henderson Hospital, a Valley Health System facility being built on 30 acres of the planned Union Village health care complex, which will anchor a 170-acre mixed-use development to be built over the next decade.

“It validates that we’re back again,” Henderson Mayor Andy Hafen said. “We’re well on our way to recovery.”

The 245,000-square-foot building, slated to open in October 2016, will offer specialty emergency care, general surgery, intensive care, intermediate care, advanced imaging, a laboratory and women’s services, including labor and delivery rooms, C-section suites and a newborn nursery.

With photos of Henderson adorning the walls and stone and metal incorporated into the interior design, the space aims to have a “soothing feel,” said Karla Perez, regional vice president for Universal Health Services, parent company of the Valley Health System.

Ultra-violet lighting, which has been shown to reduce the spread of infection, will be added to emergency and operating rooms — a feature consistent with the hospital’s focus on meeting patient needs, Perez said. “We are putting a lot of thought into the design,” she said.

The medical building will be the third hospital in Henderson and the sixth Valley Health System hospital operating in the Las Vegas area. Despite the competition, Perez said the $168-million Henderson Hospital is a necessary addition to the community given the growth in demand for health-care services created by the Affordable Care Act.

The Valley Health System expects to hire 700 people, including doctors, nurses, therapists and medical technicians, to staff the 142-bed hospital by the time it opens, Perez said.

St. Rose Dominican hospitals originally agreed to build a hospital at the site but backed out in February 2013, citing a lack of financing. Early last year, Valley Health System announced it would be taking over the project, which is located near U.S. 95 and Galleria Drive and across the street from Cowabunga Bay water park. The $1.2 billion Union Village project, billed as the first integrated health village in the region, has been years in the making. Plans first were unveiled in April 2011.

The idea of a full-fledged health community at Union Village is what attracted the Valley Health System, Perez said, adding, “it will basically be a one-stop shop for patients.”

Union Village developers — Craig Johnson, David Micheal, Gary Holland and David Baker — recently announced that Las Vegas Athletic Clubs plans to build a fitness center at the site. LVAC likely will break ground on the building later this year.

“We’re moving on all fronts,” Johnson said. Construction for Henderson Hospital “is a seminal point in the development of Union Village.”

With Henderson Hospital serving as an anchor, developers are optimistic the other pieces of Phase I — a skilled-nursing facility, senior-living village and retail — will start coming together more quickly, Johnson said. They’re finalizing an agreement for a skilled-nursing facility, which they hope to announce in a few weeks, he said.

The senior-living village will include independent apartments, assisted living and care for people with Alzheimer’s disease, Johnson said. The combination of living arrangements will fill a need for the valley, which has a growing elderly population, according to a study Union Village commissioned.

“What we’re hoping to do is improve (seniors’) wellness while living there,” Johnson said, through education, fitness, nutritious diets and health care.

Developers envision the retail component of the project as a mix of coffee shops, restaurants, dry cleaners and salons serving people living at Union Village and the 6,000 expected employees on campus, he said.

“It’s a very complex project,” Johnson said. “When you put all those together, it creates a lot of moving parts.”