Northern Arizona Healthcare leaders are again considering where a new Flagstaff Medical Center will be located.
But after city voters rejected an effort to move the hospital two years ago, the company is holding a series of community forums.
NAH CEO Dave Chaney says the sessions are a way to listen to the public as the company develops a plan for how the hospital’s current site, known as Hospital Hill, will be used.
He spoke at a forum on Wednesday at FMC and acknowledged that many Flagstaff residents didn't feel they could trust NAH during the first proposal.
"I've been trying for two and a half years to build some of that trust back. I'm just going to be honest with you. It was a strategic mistake not to have a plan for this site," Cheney says. "We want to hear your ideas. There's no right or wrong ideas."
Chaney says he and other executives are still evaluating five sites for a new hospital, including an option to rebuild in place.
Officials say their property near Fort Tuthill is also still on the table but would not detail the other three locations.
Regardless, they believe next time voters will be more supportive if the future of hospital hill is clear after a potential move.
Laura Carter was among several community members who brought up housing as a use for the site.
“I think we need to address the affordable housing issue here, in this community; progressive senior care, dementia care, moving all the way through. That’s also part of housing," Carter says.
Others pushed for a new arts center, a detox facility, community space, and university facilities to train medical professionals, while some residents simply encouraged NAH to find a way to keep FMC where it is.
A second forum is scheduled for October 30 at 6 p.m. in the McGee Auditorium on the FMC Campus.
