by Craig H. McFarland, Mayor, Casa Grande
Community health is everyone’s business.
The City of Casa Grande continues to collaborate with our local service organization. Please remember to use the City’s website and our “Community Resource” link to access services and help from all over the county, www.casagrandeaz.gov/community-health.
One of Casa Grande’s largest employers, Banner Casa Grande Medical Center (BCGMC), is also one of the City’s biggest supporters. Banner has remodeled and doubled the size of its Casa Grande Emergency Room. These new/modernizations are underway:
- Adding a state-of-the-art MRI unit
- Updating, upgrading cardiac heart catheterization lab
- Building new endoscopy suite
- Expanding Banner Urgent Care (again)
- Opening a second location for Banner Primary Health Clinic in Casa Grande
- Beginning a multiyear expansion/modernization of surgical suites
- I recently received these updates showing growth from 2018 to 2021:
- Salaries/benefits — increased 50% from $52.9 million to $76.7 million
- Urgent care visits — 22,505 to 37,643
- Surgeries — 3,500 to 5,305
- Patient admissions — 5,300 to 6,100
- Employees — 642 to 900
- Charity care — $19.5 million to $22.6 million
Another great health care partner in Casa Grande, and really all of Pinal County, is Sun Life Health.
This local organization has grown and expanded over the past 40-plus years to become the largest health care provider in Pinal County. Offering services like their women’s health, pediatrics, dental, pharmacy, and primary health care.
Collaboration between Sun Life Health and Banner Casa Grande has been amazing. One example is that Sun Life doctors deliver all the babies at Banner CG.
A second example is Sun Life Health and BCGMC along with New York University Langone have created a soon-to-be active pediatric, dental residency program in Casa Grande and will be hosting the residents’ rotations in emergency services at BCGMC.
Our secret plan is to encourage locally trained health care workers to stay in Casa Grande.
Collaboration like this only happens when like-minded organizations prioritize the bettering of the communities and people they serve, therefore the beneficiaries are the children and the families of our region to make emergent health care more responsive, easier, and make all our lives better.
Learning from the past is the best way to prepare for the future. Remember where you’ve been, but always keep looking forward!
