New hospital topic of the week: How we will redevelop FMC

After Northern Arizona Healthcare (NAH) moves out of the current Flagstaff Medical Center (FMC) and into the new hospital site near I-17 and I-40, we are committed to redeveloping the old hospital site to meet the community’s needs.

In the Development Agreement adopted by the Flagstaff City Council, NAH committed to working with the city to coordinate a public participation and planning process in conjunction with community members and facilitated by a private consultant team to develop a Vision Plan to redevelop FMC.

Redevelopment timeline

NAH anticipates the redevelopment would be ready to start in early 2029, and we are dedicated to ensuring the next chapter of Beaver Street and Forest Street is in keeping with Flagstaff’s goals when the redevelopment begins.

The first phase of the redevelopment timeline will start within six months of formal approval to start work on our new campus. NAH will host a community advisory committee to gather input on what community members envision as future uses of the site.

It’s already clear from our ongoing conversations with the community that affordable housing, senior care and workforce development/training are high on the list of current needs. NAH agrees with those ideas for redeveloping FMC and looks forward to gathering more details about potential projects, as well as hearing other ideas during the public meeting process.

We have hired PUMA, a redevelopment planning company, to help guide this process. PUMA also helped Flagstaff’s downtown redevelopment plan, so it is familiar with our local community.

How NAH drives the redevelopment

We have established a redevelopment advisory committee that includes civic and community leaders and other stakeholders.

During the construction of the new campus, NAH will solicit development proposals for the site that meet the community’s priorities as defined by the public meetings and the advisory council.

Once the community need is determined, NAH can either sell or lease the land to a developer who submits a proposal in line with the community’s needs. When the time is closer and the redevelopment priorities are more specific, we will decide which route is appropriate. Either way, NAH will have the ability to restrict the specific uses as identified in the community planning process.

One thing is clear now: FMC will not be abandoned. FMC will be redeveloped in line with the Vision Plan adopted through community participation. A “Yes” vote on Prop 480 ensures that the Development Agreement requiring this public process and Vision Plan is completed.