Mayo Clinic plans $1.9B expansion in Arizona, will create 3,500 jobs

Mayo Clinic is launching a $1.9 billion expansion project of its campus in Phoenix, Arizona, saying the project will result in the transformation of the campus.

Mayo Clinic has announced plans for a $1.9 billion expansion project of its campus in Phoenix, Arizona. The project is slated to be finished in 2031. (Image credit: Mayo Clinic News Network)

The health system is embarking on a project to add 1.2 million square feet of space to the Phoenix campus. The project comes as Mayo Clinic has invested billions of dollars in other projects across the health system.

Mayo Clinic is going to construct a new building for procedures and undertake a four-story expansion of its building for specialty care. The clinical space of the Phoenix campus will increase by 59%, said Richard J. Gray, MD, CEO of Mayo Clinic Arizona. The plans call for adding 48 additional beds in two patient units, along with 11 new operating rooms, a 31% increase in surgical space.

“We will be able to serve so many more patients, but serve them in new and better ways,” Gray said.

Gray said the project will add “3,500 great jobs” to the Mayo Clinic campus.

“This expansion project is really about the transformation of our physical facilities, but it's also about increasing capacity, and it will do that to an incredible degree,” Gray said in a video accompanying the news release this week.

“This is a $1.9 billion investment in our expansion here in Arizona, our largest ever here in this state, and we're excited that this will bring not just new cures to our patients, but also some opportunities in our economy,” Gray said.

Gray described it as a multi-year project that is expected to be finished in 2031, although some work will be completed sooner.

It’s not hard to see why Mayo Clinic would be interested in expanding in Arizona, as Phoenix continues to grow at a healthy clip. Gray cited the region’s growth as a factor in its move to expand the campus.

The city of Phoenix has added 42,000 new residents since the beginning of the decade, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, is now home to more than 4.5 million people, adding more than 165,000 new residents since 2020, according to Census data.

The health system said it is revamping the campus entrance to make it more inviting for patients and visitors. It’s also planning for more cohesion across the Phoenix campus, keeping related services closer together for patients.

“Part of our transformation is creating care neighborhoods that will be important for patients to feel a sense of home and convenience,” Gray said.

“But it will also produce better teamwork and more collaboration among our staff members, including between those that deliver patient care, those that are doing research, those that are educating the next generation of Doctors, nurses and technicians,” he added.

Mayo Clinic has labeled its Arizona project as “Bold. Forward. Unbound.” The health system has used the similar tag with its expansion in Minnesota.

Mayo Clinic is in the midst of a major expansion of its main campus in Rochester, Minnesota. The system announced a $5 billion plan to transform the Rochester campus in November 2023. Some new facilities could open in 2028, and the Rochester project is slated to be finished in 2030.

In addition, Mayo Clinic is in the midst of an expansion project in Jacksonville, Florida, building five new floors on the original tower. The Jacksonville project is slated to be finished in 2026. The Mayo Clinic Health System has recently completed projects in Mankato, Minnesota, and La Crosse, Wisconsin.

Gianrico Farrugia, MD, president and CEO of Mayo Clinic, said the Arizona expansion project represents “the final major building block” of its systemwide efforts to transform its campuses.

"Through this work, we are physically and digitally transforming healthcare and blurring the lines between inpatient and outpatient care to support Category-of-One healthcare for our patients,” Farrugia said in a statement.

Read more: Mayo Clinic’s John Halamka: ‘We have to use AI’