Saint Al’s plans neighborhood hospital next to Whole Foods in Downtown Boise

Boiseans have wondered what would eventually stand in the empty lot south of Whole Foods ever since 2012, when the grocery store opened between Front and Myrtle streets in the Central Addition neighborhood.

Its location — close to two grocery stores and a pharmacy, and across the street from Julia Davis Park — seemed to make it a good spot for any number of projects, be they commercial, residential or some mixture of them. For a while, a developer kicked around the idea of building a hotel there.

Now, Saint Alphonsus Health System is proposing a small “neighborhood hospital” on 1.3 acres of that lot, which measures 1.7 acres total. According to documents filed Tuesday with the city of Boise, this hospital would “include a two-story, 18,215 square foot building, with associated parking, service and landscape areas. The Neighborhood Hospital will include eight exam treatment rooms, an imaging department containing X-ray and CT services, and eight inpatient beds.”

This would be Saint Al’s third neighborhood hospital. The first, located in Nampa, is scheduled to open in late September. The second, in Eagle, should be ready next year, according to a statement Saint Al’s released in May.

“As a smaller hospital facility with 24/7 emergency access, the neighborhood hospital in Downtown (Boise) will improve access for the community, helping to respond to the increased number of patients (and increased level of acuity) we’re seeing in our current ER at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center on Curtis Road,” spokesman Josh Schlaich said in an email Wednesday.

This story was originally published June 28, 2017 at 4:04 PM with the headline "Saint Al’s plans neighborhood hospital next to Whole Foods in Downtown Boise."