GRHC breaks ground on new facility

December 4, 2015

Christopher Lomahquahu, GRIN

Gila River Health Care is expanding services to meet the needs of patients from the Community and other federally recognized tribes with a 140,000-square-foot health care facility, which is scheduled to open in January 2018.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held at the site near Old Price Road and Queen Creek Road in District 4 on Nov. 19 for the future Southeast Ambulatory Care Center or SEACC.

Dr. Lorrie Henderson, GRHC Chief Executive Officer, said the new location would serve Community members and American Indians from federally recognized tribes that live within the Phoenix Metropolitan area.

“The priority for us is increasing access to health care and serving those in need while reducing wait times to improve our proficiency and the lives of individuals,” he said.

Gov. Stephen Roe Lewis was also on hand to break ground on the project. “This is really a new era for healthcare in our Community, bringing together all the contributors from both past and present leadership, as well as GRHC, Ak-Chin Indian Community and the I.H.S. officials that are [our] partners in this project,” he said.

According to GRHC Chairman of the Board of Directors Myron Schruz, getting the project off the ground required a lot of cooperation with the federal government.

He said, “Indian Health Services has been an integral part of getting the facility to where we are at today, but there are other people that were a part of getting this facility moving forward,” to acquire the funding from I.H.S.

Schurz said, “We are here to celebrate the fact that those efforts have been successfully brought forth here today as we break ground on the new facility.”