Banner Health seeks to build in Colo.

Banner Health, a Phoenix-based system, is in the process of acquiring a 25- to 30-acre property in the southern end of Fort Collins, Colo., and has submitted “conceptual plans” with city officials about the type of medical facilities that could be developed on the site.

“The submission of the development plan for review and approval is a part of the Banner Health due diligence stage of the land-acquisition process for a long-term project,” Jim Ferando, Banner Health Western Region president, said in a news release (PDF). “We have not decided upon any specific facilities to be built at this time, including construction of hospital beds. Development plans will be based upon community need, and growth in demand for Banner Health services through our partnerships with other quality healthcare organizations like Kaiser Permanente.”

Banner has 17 hospitals in seven states, including four in Colorado. Last year, it submitted a bid to operate the municipally owned Memorial Health System in Colorado Springs. It later removed itself from consideration, and a long-term lease agreement with the newly formed University of Colorado Health system was approved by city voters in August.

The review and approval process with Fort Collins is expected to take nine months, Banner said in the release—which noted that details regarding the real estate deal were not being disclosed at this time.

“We look forward to working with the city of Fort Collins and our area healthcare partners to develop facilities that will enable us to provide a variety of convenient, local, nationally recognized, patient-care services,” Ferando said in the release.