Fresno Hospital Begins Construction Project Intended To Attract Physicians to Area

Officials at St. Agnes Medical Center in Fresno have announced plans to build as many as five new office buildings totaling more than 100,000 square feet north of the hospital in an attempt to attract physicians to the Fresno area, the Fresno Bee reports. The $20 million project could bring between 200 and 300 new medical jobs to the Fresno area, according to the Bee. Construction recently began on the first building, the 11,000-square-foot Plaza Surgical Center, which will include four operating rooms and an endoscopy suite and will provide outpatient services that require minimal recovery time. St. Agnes has joined with local physicians, led by Valley Surgical Specialists, and developer G.L. Bruno Associates to develop the $7.6 million building. Construction of the second building is scheduled to begin in March and will be completed by the end of 2004. Michael Gallagher, executive vice president of corporate development at St. Agnes, said that the hospital plans to complete the five buildings in five years, adding that the complex will complement the hospital's current $120 million expansion project that will add 106 beds and expand cardiac services (Correa, Fresno Bee, 8/6).