University of Arizona, Banner Health partnership creates $60 billion in economic impact since 2015 Article originally posted on KTAR News on October 27, 2025 PHOENIX — The University of Arizona and Banner Health, Arizona’s largest hospital system, celebrated a decade-long partnership on Friday that has provided more than $60 billion in economic impact to the state. The partnership was celebrated during an event on UofA’s downtown Phoenix campus, where the Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) highlighted the work done to improve medical care for Arizona residents. The celebration was attended by UofA President Suresh Garimella, Banner Health President and CEO Amy Perry, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego and ABOR chair Doug Goodyear. Details of economic impact of UofA, Banner Health partnership Since beginning the partnership in 2015, UofA and Banner Health have combined to invest more than $2.4 billion to upgrade and expand facilities, create new clinical trials, invest in education spaces and create new fellowship and residency opportunities, according to a media release. Over the past decade, the partnership has also: Led to $53.7 billion in economic impact from ongoing operations. Seen $2 billion in impact from construction. Created 35,500 health care jobs. Created 12,600 temporary construction jobs. Led to $2.2 billion in tax revenue for the state, counties and cities. Led to $2.8 billion in economic activity from medical students who have stayed to work in Arizona after graduating. Since 2015, more than 1,900 medical students have graduated from UofA’s medical schools in Tucson and Phoenix. About 1,100 of them are practicing in Arizona, UofA said. Perry said the impact of the partnership is not only felt in the economy, but also in the quality of health care for Arizonans. “On a local level, residents of Arizona have access to the most leading-edge medicine there is in the country from fetal medicine to heart transplant to trauma care, as well as prevention services and access,” she said. Banner Health, UofA look to grow partnership Perry added that the university and medical center are currently working on expanding the level of care for patients in Arizona, with 600 clinical trials being conducted on cancer, cardiology, Alzheimer’s, and more. UofA President Suresh Garimella explained that a major health care issue in the state is the shortage of physicians, something the partnership is hoping to improve. “We’re going to be training more M.D.s in Yuma. That’s 30 more M.D.s in a part of the state that does not have as much access to health care as it should,” he said. “I think every part of the state should have primary care physicians.” Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego also spoke at Friday’s event, highlighting the partnership, which she said strengthens multiple factors of a healthy city. “We think it’s an area where we already have excellence, but that investing in academic partnerships will position us for the jobs of the future,” Gallego said. Perry said moving into the next decade, the world of technology offers the opportunity to change the way healthcare exists, explaining that artificial intelligence gives doctors the ability to look at a large group of data over time.