University of Utah Launches First Off-Campus Hospital Project

Construction is officially underway for the University of Utah’s first off-campus hospital, an $885 million project in West Valley City that aims to expand health care access for Utah’s growing west side.

University officials and state leaders broke ground June 13 on the new University of Utah Eccles Health Campus in Centennial Park. The ambitious 800,000-square-foot hospital and medical campus will rise on a 22-acre site at 3784 S. 5600 West and is scheduled to open its first phases in 2028.

Okland Construction Co. of Salt Lake City will serve as the project’s general contractor.

The new facility will house an emergency department, 130 inpatient rooms, 200 exam rooms and offices for nearly 50 medical specialties. Once fully operational, it will serve more than 426,000 patients each year.

“Just because health care services are available does not mean that they are accessible,” said Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson at the groundbreaking. “We are taking a huge step today in providing accessible major health care to the people on the west side of I-15, and I am so grateful.”

The main hospital, medical office building, parking structures and tree-lined grounds are expected to be completed by 2029 or later, transforming the site into the first major integrated medical hub for West Valley City residents who have long faced gaps in local hospital care.

University of Utah President Taylor Randall called the project a historic milestone. “We believe that, together, this project will not only save lives, it also will start educational processes to work, not only in our hospital, but in the hospitals around the country, in the hospitals all around our state. It will make all of us different,” Randall said.

The George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation contributed $75 million — the largest donation in the foundation’s history — to help launch the project, earning Spence Eccles a standing ovation at the ceremony.

City leaders estimate the Eccles Health Campus will generate around 2,000 new jobs and bring significant economic benefits to Utah’s second-largest city through construction, health care services, and surrounding commercial activity.

Architectural renderings reveal two modern earth-toned mid-rise buildings surrounded by green space and buffered from the road, ensuring a calm, patient-friendly environment. As the university’s largest medical project to date, the campus is expected to become a cornerstone for specialized care, community health programs, and future medical training initiatives in the region.

Originally reported by Construction Equipment Guide.