The Sedona City Council decided to announce its official neutrality toward the proposed Northern Arizona Healthcare hospital in Flagstaff during its meeting on Tuesday, June 13.
The first phase of the project is slated for completion in 2027 and will consist primarily of a new 700,000-square-foot hospital north of Fort Tuthill County Park.
The council was responding to remarks made by Yavapai County District 3 Supervisor Donna Michaels, who called on her supporters in an April 26 Facebook post to lobby the Flagstaff City Council “that we in the Verde Valley oppose the estimated $800 million Phase 1 of the proposed NAH and Wellness Village planned near Fort Tuthill County Park.”
The Flagstaff City Council approved the rezoning for the hospital on June 6. No Verde Valley residents spoke in opposition.
“There’s been miscommunication out there because broad statements have been made by an elected official, who has a position on this, stating that there’s broad support and saying communities in the Verde Valley [are in opposition], but we are the representatives of Sedona, we do not have a position on this case,” Councilwoman Kathy Kinsella said. “I don’t want to interfere with Flagstaff’s process … I want to make it clear and not have it represented.
“Should we act on this by saying that our position is neutral, I want that communicated to the elected official who’s been representing that there are positions and with a request that it be clarified that she is not speaking on behalf of the city of Sedona.”
While council members did not refer to Michaels by name, the agenda bill for the discussion identified Micheals as the supervisor responsible for making claims of widespread opposition in the Verde Valley.
Although the council emphasized its neutrality toward NAH’s planned construction, Councilman Brian Fultz asked about the question of unequal investment that Michaels had raised.
“With NAH’s focus on a new ‘village,’ where will that leave us in the Verde Valley?” Michaels had asked in her post. “Imagine if the $800 million was used to improve the current infrastructures of both NAH hospitals and provide incentives to attract the much-needed medical staff our region needs.”
“I am in agreement,” Fultz said, regarding a statement of neutrality, “but as a byproduct of what NAH is doing … I would like to see us get NAH to relinquish the land behind the emergency center [in Sedona]. Because they’re going to invest [in Flagstaff], and we know they’re never going to invest here.”
Earlier in the meeting Kent Ellsworth, executive director of the Verde Valley Caregivers Coalition, had discussed a sharp increase in the need for the group’s transportation services for out-of-town medical services for the 400 to 500 people who rely on its services, and cited a lack of specialty health care for residents.
“Just five years ago, our volunteers and staff drove about 250,000 miles. This year, it’s going to be 600,000 miles,” Ellsworth said. “Eighty percent of all the trips we provide to Sedona residents are to — the destinations are not in Sedona, they’re [to Flagstaff and Prescott].”
Over the last few years, the the coalition has undertaken 20 to 30 long-distance trips per week, up from about five a week previously. One mitigation measure the Verde Valley Caregivers have been taking is expanding their telemedicine offerings through a gift of 11 tablets from NAH to assist residents with virtual appointments.
“I respect the neutral position that they have taken,” Michaels said. “I don’t recall mentioning any vote by the City Council.” Referencing comments she posted, “I certainly … made it very clear by its very definition that it’s my opinion, and made very clear who in the community … But I was in no way attempting to reflect what the city council had decided, which I have understood for quite some time was a neutral position. I respect that they have the right to have that.”
