Two-thirds of Scottsdale voters (67 percent) support City Council approval for the proposed Banner Health Medical Campus – including a full-service hospital and cancer center – according to a poll of 400 city voters conducted Aug. 21-23 by national pollster Public Opinion Strategies.

The proposed medical campus, to be built on 48 acres near Hayden Road and the Loop 101, had strong majority support across all political and age demographics in the survey, with Scottsdale Republicans (65%), Democrats (68%) and Independent voters (71%) all saying “yes” to zoning approval for the new hospital. Voters aged 45 to 64 years old (65%) and over age 65 (69%) also strongly supported the project.

Initial support for the hospital stood at 54 percent versus 14 percent opposed. Support rose to 67 percent after respondents heard typical positive and negative messages about the new hospital. Only 26 percent of Scottsdale voters urged City Council to vote against the new hospital, according to the survey.

“Scottsdale voters were extraordinarily clear on their support for this new hospital,” said Becky Armendariz, a spokesperson for Banner Health. “This project has landslide-level support across every demographic in the city. And support for the new medical campus only grew after voters were exposed to the pro and con messages being offered about the project.”

Nearly eight in 10 voters (78%) responded positively to economic analysis of the new hospital, which will create more than 2,500 jobs and invest $750 million in the Scottsdale economy. A similar number (77%) supported building a new hospital at the Hayden/Loop 101 location – currently zoned commercial – rather than a car dealership or a big box store. And 76 percent of voters supported the City Council approving the new medical campus to plan for population growth in the area, projected to add 100,000 new residents by 2030.

Scottsdale-based HonorHealth has publicly expressed and funded opposition to the new hospital. Nearly two-thirds of Scottsdale voters responded negatively to Honor’s lobbying push, with 64 percent of respondents agreeing that it is “unfair for HonorHealth to lobby to block other providers from building a hospital in Scottsdale while expanding their own services outside of Scottsdale.”

“When you give city voters the full picture of this new medical campus, you find that support for the new hospital grows from a convincing majority to a landslide,” said Jarrett Lewis with Public Opinion Strategies. “The opponents don’t have much in the way of support, even after voters hear their best arguments. Should the new hospital end up on a city ballot someday, opponents will find themselves hard-pressed to find a path to victory.

Methodology

Public Opinion Strategies conducted a poll of 400 likely voters who live in the City of Scottsdale from Aug. 21 to Aug. 23. The margin of error for a survey of N=400 is 4.90%.

Visit bannerhealth.com/bannerscottsdale.