Outpatient Center gives economy shot in the arm

It took less than a year for the Parkview Outpatient Center to go from groundbreaking to completion, but that doesn’t mean the project was a simple one.

Instead, crews worked long hours, six and seven days a week, to bring the state-of-the-art facility to the people of Pueblo and Southern Colorado.

The 22,000 square-foot building brings four endoscopy suites and four outpatient operating rooms to Parkview’s campus along with plenty of space for patient recovery, and a comfortable waiting area and a coffee shop named in honor of Drs. Gordon Murley and Wallace Sullivan, whose practice once stood where the new facility calls home.

About 50 people will be working inside the building, but many more people worked on the building site and most were from Pueblo.

“It’s estimated that over 200 Pueblo tradesmen worked on this project over the last 11 months,” said Jeff Genova, president and CEO of New Image Drywall. “Approximately 70 percent of the workforce used at this facility were Pueblo residents. This number doesn’t include the numerous local suppliers and their employees who also contributed.”

Genova noted that this has a ripple effect on the local economy, taking one dollar in wages and turning it over multiple times.

“These are employees that are spending their hard-earned dollar right here in our backyard, not to mention the impact of these contractors giving back to local nonprofits and charities.”

Genova said this was a direct result of Parkview putting contractors first.

“This was made possible by Parkview Medical Center creating a prequalified bidders list that incorporates a diverse list of bidders from the Pueblo area,” he said. “Parkview has excelled at establishing and implementing a workforce plan that sets local contractors as a priority. This type of local economic benefit would not be possible without Parkview and their facility management team having confidence in local contractors.”