Residents who attended a meeting last week with the developers of a proposed hospital in Fountain Hills may have come away less than satisfied with what they heard.

While the residents voiced their concerns about the design of the proposed structure and construction process, the doctors who are planning the hospital and are near a start of construction, focused more on the services the facility would bring to the community.

Larry Meyers, who did most of the talking for the residents, became irritated when the development team wanted to steer the conversation toward services rather than the building and construction. Meyers walked out for a time while the discussion centered on what the hospital would offer.

“We want something that looks nice in the neighborhood, and right now we don’t see that,” Meyers said when he returned. “We want to see a better-looking project at that intersection.

“This is not about the hospital, we are all for the hospital. We want [the building] specifically designed to not look like a hospital, to blend into the neighborhood.”

The plan calls for the hospital development to add 10 feet of pavement to Trevino Drive between Saguaro Blvd. and Burkemo Drive.

Meyers asked whether the widening would be done all at one time, or concurrent with the phasing.

The project architect stated that the improvements would need to be done as the work is phased due to budget planning.

Meyers noted that could take up to two years of construction congestion on Trevino, which may divert traffic over to Monterey into the residential neighborhood.

The contractor for the project said the widening for Phase I would be done immediately and would take no more than 45 days. The remainder is to be done when the second and third phases are constructed. That is expected to begin within 18 months of the Phase I construction.

Questions also came up about where people who park along Trevino Drive and construction workers would park. Developers said parking on Trevino would be banned during construction and workers on the project would park in an on-site area. They do not know where others, including employees of businesses in the shopping plaza across Trevino, would park.

The project architect said the building for Phase I is 12,200 square feet, single story and 26 feet in height. It sits close to Trevino and is 122 feet from the back of the building to the nearest residential property line. The building pad will be 30 feet below the homes on Monterey Drive.

The location on the site is sensitive to intrusion on the neighbors and parking for the hospital is on the opposite side from the residences, according to the architect.

Services

Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeume and Dr. Sandeep Yarlagadda are the physicians behind Fountain Hills Medical Center. They attended the meeting and talked about the services the hospital would offer for the community.

Phase I of the project will include the emergency room as well as a walk-in urgent care clinic. There will also be a handful of beds to accommodate those who need to stay overnight or await transfer to another hospital.

The hospital will have its own transport vehicle manned with EMTs to make those transfers.

Phase II will include an expansion of the hospital facility with additional bed space as well as operating rooms. Phase III includes additional diagnostic medical services.

Fountain Hills Medical Center is planned as a physician-owned hospital offering a variety of services, including an emergency room, imaging center with CT, MRI, X-ray, ultrasound, nuclear medicine, laboratory, pharmacy and in-patient beds. The fully accredited hospital is planned to serve both children and adults and include in-patient and primary care. The hospital will accept all insurance plans, including Medicare and Medicaid.

Town Development Services Director John Wesley said the town is ready to issue a permit for the project upon completion of some additional documentation and payment of fees.