St. Luke’s marks topping out milestone on nine-story Boise hospital tower

St. Luke’s Health System on June 26 raised the highest steel beam on its Boise Campus Development project, marking a ceremonial topping out on a nine-story hospital tower that will add 80 beds and expand surgical capacity when it opens in early 2030.

The beam, adorned with team member signatures, quotes and sketches, was raised with help from general contractor Layton Construction in a tradition that honors construction progress and the workers behind it. The event brought together trade partners, architects, community partners and St. Luke’s staff.

“This moment represents more than steel and concrete. It reflects the dedication of our teams and St. Luke’s commitment to and investment in improving the health of the people in the communities we serve,” said Dennis Mesaros, vice president for St. Luke’s Boise, McCall and Elmore medical centers.

The project includes the nine-story hospital tower, totaling 860,000 square feet, connected to a six-story, 180,000-square-foot medical office plaza spanning 1st Street. The plaza will link to a parking garage completed in 2021. The tower will include two neuro-interventional biplane imaging systems for diagnosing strokes and other neurological disorders.

When complete, the project will relocate all Boise-based surgical services, add seven operating rooms for a total of 27 at the Boise Medical Center, and push the facility’s total bed capacity to more than 500.

“These facilities are designed to help patients navigate care more easily and bring services closer together,” Mesaros said. “They will also provide our team members with efficient, modern spaces that are designed for today’s health care technology, and where cross-collaborative communication and care can more easily take place.”

Construction began in 2024 and is expected to be completed in late 2029. About 300 workers are on site at any given time. Steel framing and insulation are taking shape on the project’s east side, and construction remains on schedule.

“Boise is in a new phase of growth, and all the work happening on the St. Luke’s campus is leading that momentum,” said Jeremy Hobbs, vice president of Layton Construction. “This hospital will serve Idaho families for generations.”

St. Luke’s is already planning for patient move-in, including equipment logistics, wayfinding signage and patient communication strategies, working with transition planning experts to ensure a safe handoff from the existing tower to the new facility.

This story was written using artificial intelligence with human oversight.