On November 28, 2012 the Pima County Planning Commission unanimously approved zoning changes paving the way for the Green Valley AZ hospital project to move forward.  The Pima County Board of Supervisors has the final say, and that hearing is set for December 18.

The long awaited hospital will fill fill 22 acres of a 50-acre parcel alongside Interstate 19 in Green Valley.  Plans include a rehabilitation center, medical offices, cardiac catheterization lab, four operating rooms, on-site radiological imaging labs, 26 inpatient private rooms, a six-bed intensive-care unit, a helipad, and the potential to expand from 32 beds to 50.

Officials have said they will build with the ability to expand the hospital as the community grows. The hospital is tentatively planned to open in 2014.  In addition to the 32-bed hospital, three medical office buildings and two other related structures are planned.The site will allow Green Valley residents to get local treatment and will include a heliport for transfer of critically injured patients to Tucson-area hospitals.

Scottsdale-based McDowell Enterprises entered into a "memorandum of understanding" with Tucson Medical Center in September to build the hospital, which would serve some 50,000 people who live in Green Valley, home to many retirees, and the rapidly growing Sahuarita area. The area does not currently have a hospital or emergency room, and residents must travel approximately 30 minutes or more by car to get to an ER.

A recent community-needs assessment completed by Tucson's nonprofit hospitals identified Green Valley as a medically underserved area. Recent additions of urgent-care clinics and a clinic with rotating specialties have been positive steps for the area, but without a hospital, there is still a gap in services.