BOISE, Idaho — St. Luke’s Boise Medical Center announced the construction of a new hospital tower and connecting medical office plaza.
Construction is getting underway on several smaller projects that will make way for the multiyear construction of a nine-story tower and an adjoining medical office plaza.
The planned development is part of St. Luke's master plan, which was approved by the city of Boise in 2015, and has included construction of the Idaho Elks Children's Pavilion, a new campus parking structure and a new central utilities plant in recent years.
"I think we're all aware, Idaho is the second fastest growing state in the country," Dennis Mesaros, Site Administrator for St. Luke’s said.
Mesaros said the increase in people has made it difficult to keep up with the demand of services
"We're running at capacity right now. So, we're often seeing patients go to different hospitals or must leave the state for care,” Mesaros said. “We can't accept transfers from different parts of the state."
To help with the struggle to provide care, they have started the process of building a new nine story hospital tower that will add 80 new beds, seven new operating rooms and two new imaging systems that will help with diagnosing neurological disorders.
Mesaros said the medical services provided at this medical center is hard to find.
“So, we attract patients from hundreds of miles from all corners of the state,” Mesaros said. “So, being able to provide the services here is really critical to the community."
Aside from the tower, a new medical office plaza will be integrated and will connect to the patient parking garage through a sky bridge over first street.
“Our clinicians right now have a real struggle in terms of efficiency in a very old building,” Mesaros said. “So, connecting the two new towers and adding our capacity will increase efficiency for our workforce as well."
Mesaros wants to reassure the community that the construction will not interrupt any care and will continue during construction...
"So, in order to address some of the friction patients are seeing, we want to add convenience and want to keep care close to home."
Construction for the new hospital tower and medical office plaza is expected to start in early 2024 and go through 2029.
The block on Jefferson Street, between First Street and Avenue B on the north side of the hospital, will be closed off starting September 18 and will remain closed indefinitely. During construction, emergency vehicles will have access to that portion of Jefferson Street.
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