After months of debate, voters in Flagstaff will get a chance to weigh in on the building of a comprehensive medical facility and campus.
Two years ago, the Northern Arizona Healthcare system said it wanted to build a campus near the Fort Tuthill County Park, roughly 6 miles to the southwest of downtown Flagstaff.
As proposed, the project would see the construction of a multi-story hospital and ambulatory care center, with the larger campus being given over to housing, a hotel, grocery store, and a 22-acre natural retreat.
Previous reports have estimated that it will cost around $800 million to complete the project.
While the proposal has won the support of city leaders, several community groups have been formed in opposition. One, called the Friends of Flagstaff’s Future, has charged that the Flagstaff City Council signed off on the project too quickly, declaring that an “unbiased community needs assessment is warranted.”
A second group, Flagstaff Community First, secured the requisite number of signatures needed to put the project on a ballot. Northern Arizona Healthcare subsequently suffered a defeat when Coconino Superior Court Judge Brent Harris denied its request to prohibit the November referendum.
Proposition 480 is essentially asking voters to affirm or deny a rezoning approved by the council to allow for the project.
“It’s a big development, period, but it’s also very big in terms of magnitude,” Michele James, executive director of the Friends of Flagstaff’s Future, recently remarked to the Arizona Daily Sun.
James added: “We think a decision of this magnitude ought to be at the hands of the voting public.”
In response, Northern Arizona Healthcare has launched a campaign called “Yes on Prop 480,” with a website that says, in part: “The existing hospital, Flagstaff Medical Center, is too small, too crowded, and too antiquated. It simply cannot keep up with the demands of a growing and aging population.”
The website also argues that “with the projected population of Northern Arizona to double by 2050, these problems will only get worse.”
By Garry Boulard
