Banner Gateway Medical Center will open its new, five-story patient tower and additional areas on Tuesday, March 21, doubling the size of the hospital. The $243-million project is expected to add more than 600 new jobs.

The 351,000-square-foot addition includes an expanded Women and Infant Services Unit, added space for inpatient cancer care by Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center (located on the same campus), and more space for surgical, emergency, endoscopy and imaging services. Licensed inpatient beds at Banner Gateway will increase from 177 to 286.

“We’re excited we can offer this addition for our patients and the communities we serve,” said Darren McCollem, Banner Gateway’s chief operating officer. “As the state and particularly the East Valley continue to grow in population, we want to make sure we’re meeting the demands of quality health care. This expansion addresses the need for enhanced services that will help our patient populations now and in the future.”

In addition to the new tower, an expanded Women and Infant Services Unit opened last month, addressing the need for enhanced women and infant care, including labor, delivery and postpartum. This includes a new neonatal intensive care unit for babies that need extra care. Banner Gateway outgrew its previous eight-bed NICU, and added 16 larger rooms, a family lounge, and lots of windows for natural lighting. Banner also added five labor and delivery rooms and nine postpartum rooms.

“We have an average of 4,000 deliveries per year at Banner Gateway, and with the new rooms, we’re so happy to be able to accommodate up to 6,000 per year,” said Shannon Garcia, director of Women and Infant Services.

The architect is Smith Group and McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is the general contractor.