MERIDIAN, Idaho — Meridian city leaders have rejected a proposal to build a Nutex micro hospital near Eagle Road, just south of the Interstate 84 interchange.
The proposed facility would have included an emergency room, imaging services and eight overnight beds. Last week, the city council unanimously voted against the development because of how emergency crews would have had to access the facility — through a small side street, rather than a main thoroughfare.
WATCH | Find out why Meridian City Council rejected the plan:
City code requires hospitals to have access via a main arterial road — a requirement the existing site could not meet.
"I can think of no worse place to put any type of healthcare place than on this corner," Mayor Robert Simison said
The mayor added that access was the central issue.
"I think better access is the intent, more than anything else — which, unfortunately, this intersection really lacks," Simison said.
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Hailey Steik, a shift lead at Bowl of Haven near the intersection of Eagle and Overland, echoed the city's concerns about traffic in the area.
"It's like, lined up all the way back here. Sometimes cars are all the way back here trying to turn," Steik said.
Steik said the area already feels like a busy hub, but added she would not be opposed to having more healthcare services nearby.
"I feel like it would help make more of a hub, maybe, if it was down that way," Steik said. "I feel like over here, it's just so busy, and it just keeps getting busy."
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The council made clear it was not opposed to the development itself, only to its proposed location. One council member recused himself from the vote.
I reached out to Nutex Health for comment on the decision and to ask whether the company plans to submit an application for a different location, but have not yet heard back.
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