New Hospital Proposed Near Varner Road & Cook Street

There are plans to build a non-profit hospital, with as many as 120 beds, serving patients within the next four years, according to the Berger Foundation.

CBS Local 2’s Kris Long learned that 64 acres of land, located on the northwest corner of Cook Street and Varner Road, just north of Interstate 10, is where the hospital is expected to be built.

The Palm Desert-based H.N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation currently owns the property.

“A representative confirmed to me that they have a letter of commitment from a group of valley doctors to purchase the land and build a hospital,” Long said. “He said the area was chosen because it is centrally located in the Coachella Valley.

Infrastructure, such as fiber optics and water, are already in place, largely because of the construction of Xavier College Preparatory School nearby .

“I’m told the doctors also like the proposed site’s closeness to the I-10,” Long said. “They feel it will make for very easy access to the medical facility, particularly should there be a large emergency need for hospital care.”

Dr. Gary Annunziata chairs the Desert Cities Health Management Group which includes about 60 local doctors who are investing and seeking financing for the project.

“The number one product in this community, or close to it, is health care. The doctors know more than anybody that their patients can’t get into hospitals. They need more beds,” said Dr. Annunziata.

Dr. Annunziata says the hospital could eventually expand to 400 beds. He adds the hospital will offer a wide array of services.

“Everything from an emergency room to family practices, from surgery to cardiac care — to outpatient and inpatient services, and pharmacies,” he said.

If the plans are successful, it would be the Coachella Valley’s fourth hospital. Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs is the oldest, followed by JFK Memorial Hospital in Indio and Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, which opened in 1971.