Construction begins on University of Utah hospital in West Valley City
Darrell Kirby
The City Journals
After several years of talk and planning, construction of the University of Utah Health’s new hospital in West Valley City is finally underway.
The U West Valley Steering Committee met in September to get an update on the progress of the major hospital on 22 acres at 3750 S. 5600 W.
As of September, the site was being prepared for the foundation of what will be called the University of Utah Eccles Health Campus and Eccles Hospital.
The 800,000-square-foot hospital will offer numerous specialties, including heart care, orthopedics, pediatrics and women’s health, and provide training for students in various medical disciplines.
It will be the first major hospital to serve residents on the west side of the Salt Lake Valley, which university and city officials say have been underserved when it comes to health care services.
Site work is currently being done to prepare for building the medical center in three phases. By December, concrete footings are scheduled to be in place. Then the steel frame for the structure will start to be erected. “All the steel has been procured for the building even though we’re still designing the inside … which is incredible,” said Ischa Jensen, associate executive director of planning at University of Utah Health. “We’re starting with completing the outpatient building first” where patients are seen by their medical providers and get exams, she added. “The second piece will likely be where the surgeries occur, procedural spaces, and the emergency department.” The final construction phase will be the areas housing inpatient beds, according to Jensen.
It’s hoped that each part of the complex can be done and opened within 12 to 18 months of each other. “It’s important not only for us to stage that timing … from a construction perspective, but also from a staff training perspective,” Jensen said, noting that 1,200 new employees will be brought on over that span to staff the hospital as it opens in phases. Projected completion of the campus is in late 2028 or 2029.
Officials in March announced a $75 million donation from the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation to help fund the construction of the medical campus. Total cost of the project right now is around $855 million. Okland Construction is the general contractor.