Northern Arizona Healthcare’s (NAH) new hospital is a 100% privately funded project. It will be entirely paid for using NAH’s own funds as a nonprofit organization. There is no taxpayer funding being used to construct the hospital.
Part of being a fiscally responsible nonprofit organization is planning for growth, construction and future needs, which is what NAH has done by continually setting aside reserve funding to pay for this new hospital that is needed to support this growing region for the next several decades.
This planning is the same as NAH’s short and long-term financial planning which allows us to replace expensive medical equipment when it expires, invest in new technology that allows us to continue to provide high-quality care or plan for an increase in labor costs to accommodate the future growth of our region.
Paying for city infrastructure
In addition to building the hospital at no cost to Flagstaff residents, NAH has agreed to pay for numerous infrastructure improvements near the facility, above and beyond what other city developments have been asked to pay for.
Typically, developments pay impact fees designed to cover the cost of additional infrastructure to accommodate the changes. NAH is paying those standard fees, plus the following non-standard development costs:
Transportation improvements in surrounding areas: $45 million
- Widen Beulah Boulevard to a 4-lane, raised median complete street (for a stretch of 3 miles)
- Re-align Mountain Dell Road, forming a safe and protected intersection with Beulah Boulevard
- Improve eight additional intersections along Beulah Boulevard
- Construct a roundabout on the east side of the I-17 and JW Powell bridge
Transportation improvements on the construction site: $7 million
- Re-align Purple Sage Road, improving the road and access to Getaway Trail
- Construct the east portion of Woody Mountain Road
- Grade Beulah Boulevard and Purple Sage Road for a future I-17 underpass
Fire Protection: approximately $4.5 million – half the cost of building a new fire station
- The City of Flagstaff will pay the other half, but NAH will have paid the city $8 million in taxes before the hospital even opens, more than making up for the city’s $4.5 million investment into 50% of the new fire station.
Transit: approximately $250,000 per year
- Other past developments have paid for the cost of adding one new bus stop ($130,000), but NAH is making continued annual payments and will continue to pay for taxis, Uber and Lyft rides for those who need them.
Throughout the life of the hospital, NAH is expected to pay more than $100 million in taxes to the city of Flagstaff in property taxes, state shared revenue that comes back to the city, and other taxes, more than making up for any city cost to maintain roads or other infrastructure expanded by this development.
Find our other articles about the new hospital here: