Onvida Health Invests More Than One Million Dollars in Yuma Healthcare Expansion With Medical School and Two New Facilities
Marcus Whitfield
Yuma Healthcare Gets Boost as Onvida Health Announces Major Expansion Projects
YUMA, Ariz. — Onvida Health has announced a significant investment in southwest Arizona healthcare with more than one million dollars earmarked for three major projects. The expansion aims to improve access to care in the rapidly growing desert community.
Hospital leaders say the new development will play a key role in improving local healthcare access. While many rural communities face the possibility of becoming healthcare deserts, Yuma is seeing more doctors and more facilities.
"We need to have physicians and advanced professionals that can provide the services patients need" said Dr. Robert Trenschel President and CEO of Onvida Health.
Trenschel says Onvida Health already employs more than 4000 people in the Yuma area and the organization is moving forward with three new projects.
In the city of San Luis a new facility with at least 24 beds is planned. The project is expected to create around 370 new jobs. A veteran's medical facility is also in development. It will be located in the Foothills east of Yuma.
The largest project according to Trenschel is a medical school.
"The medical school we are going to start with 15 students but we are already looking at how we can grow that" Trenschel said.
He says the long-term goal is to develop a full campus to train future healthcare workers who want to dedicate their careers to serving rural Arizona.
"Similar to how the University of Arizona Phoenix grew out of Tucson we would like to grow Yuma out of Phoenix into having our own campus here" Trenschel said.
The expansion comes at a time when other rural healthcare providers are struggling. They often rely on dwindling revenue and face increasing levels of uncompensated care. Trenschel says those broader challenges haven't impacted Onvida Health yet but leaders are preparing for what could be ahead.
"As our revenue decreases due to federal policies and change the amount of capital we have to invest will decrease as well" he said.
All three Onvida Healthcare projects are expected to be completed by the end of 2027. Hospital leaders say this will be a major boost for the growing community.