Stolen ambulance crashes into Meridian medical building. What is Portico North?
Offices in a Meridian medical building were closed Thursday after a stolen ambulance smashed into the six-story structure.
The crash occurred around 12:30 a.m. Thursday at the Portico North building at the southeast corner of Eagle and Franklin roads.
Part of The Portico at Meridian complex, Portico North is owned by St. Luke’s Health System, whose Meridian hospital is one block to the south.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is leasing office space in the building, the Statesman previously reported.
According to St. Luke’s spokesperson Christine Myron, Portico North will be closed for the remainder of the day as law enforcement investigates the crash.
Here’s what to know about the building:
What happened at Meridian medical building?
Someone stole a Canyon County Paramedics ambulance from St. Luke’s Meridian Medical Center and then drove the vehicle into the Portico North building, Meridian Police told the media.
No one was injured as a result of the crash, Patrol Lt. Brandon Frasier said in an email to news media.
Police hadn’t located a suspect as of early afternoon. They told the media at a press conference that they believe the suspect planned to light the building on fire.
What is Portico North’s connection to St. Luke’s, ICE?
The Portico North building, 3330 E. Louise Drive in Meridian, was developed in 2006 by Tommy Ahlquist Jr. and his father in a partnership with the Gardner Group, the Idaho Statesman reported in 2013.
The Portico North building features 252,000 square feet of office space and is part of a 24-acre development.
“There is no clinical patient care provided in the Portico North building,” Myron told the Statesman.
The site functions as a workspace for a health insurance company as well as St. Luke’s hospice care providers and home health teams.
The U.S. General Services Administration told the Statesman on Feb. 11 that it was leasing space for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement — part of Homeland Security — to meet the agency’s work-space needs.
“St. Luke’s has worked with a variety of organizations, including the General Services Administration, over the years to temporarily lease unused office space,” Myron told the Statesman on Feb. 10. “Last fall, GSA signed a lease for the Department of Homeland Security to utilize administrative office space in the Portico North office building near Franklin and South Eagle Road.”
What hospice providers are at St. Luke’s?
Hospice care providers at St. Luke’s focus “on comfort and quality of life during the final months of a serious illness,” the medical system said on its website.
St. Luke’s hospice providers include the following:
- Hospice nurses
- Hospice physicians
- Social workers
- Hospice aides
- Dietitians
- Pediatrics hospice specialists
“If you or someone you love is facing a serious illness, hospice can bring comfort, peace, and support,” St. Luke’s said on its website. “Care is focused on making each day meaningful, at home, with the people who matter most.”
What home health services does St. Luke’s provide?
According to the St. Luke’s website, its home health team “offers professional medical support in the comfort of your own home.”
Home health includes in-home service and telehealth care.
Home health care services from St. Luke’s include the following:
- Health assessments
- Pain management
- Wound care
- Physical, occupational, speech and respiratory therapy
- Nutrition assessments
- Health aides
What else is at The Portico at Meridian?
St. Luke’s also operates and owns two other buildings on the same site, Portico East and Portico West, providing medical services on site.
These include:
- Plastic and reconstructive surgery
- Breast and general surgery
- Family medicine practitioners
- Orthopedics
- Neurologists
- Radiologists
- Liver disease transplants
Restaurants, retailers and other companies can also be found on the property, incuding Starbucks Coffee, Mo’ Bettahs Hawaiian Style Food, the Portico Pharmacy and Quest Diagnostics.
