Sep. 13--Mercy Medical Center is planning to build a new hospital in northwest Nampa in the next decade.
The hospital bought 60 acres near the new Costco store in Nampa off Interstate 84 and plans to build a medical office building on the land in the next two or three years, and then eventually build a full hospital at the site over the next decade.
"We're in the planning stages," said Ken Taylor, a spokesman for Mercy Medical. The hospital hasn't decided how large the hospital will be, how much it will cost and what services it will provide, Taylor said.
"It will take a few years to get through the planning process," he said.
About 76,300 people live in the Nampa today, but the population is expected to grow to more 100,000 in the next five years, said Sharla Arledge, a spokeswoman for Nampa Mayor Tom Dale.
Taylor said Mercy Medical chose a growing part of Nampa near I-84 for its new hospital. Mercy Medical's main campus is located in southern Nampa at the corner of Iowa Avenue and 12th Avenue Road.
The new hospital will be across from the Treasure Valley Marketplace, the shopping center anchored by Costco just off the new Karcher Interchange, he said.
Mercy Medical is a 152-bed hospital owned by Catholic Health Initiatives, a national nonprofit health care organization.
The hospital also operates Mercy North just off the Garrity Boulevard exit of I-84 in north Nampa. That facility provides outpatient services.
"Mercy has undertaken an extensive assessment of what health care services are needed now and in the future in order to serve our rapidly growing community," Joe Messmer, the hospital's president and chief executive officer, said in a statement released Tuesday. "We are excited with the potential this land purchase offers Mercy Medical Center as we plan for the future."
