The City of Hoover’s Health Care Authority is moving ahead with an ambitious 90-acre plan for a health and wellness development which will include an ambulatory surgical center and diagnostic facility.

The authority has officially filed a certificate of need (CON) application with the State Health Planning and Development Agency (SHPDA).

The project will be located near Riverchase Parkway in the Riverwalk Health & Wellness Village, the planned anchor for the city’s Hoover Health Care District. Riverwalk Village is the expansion and re-imagining of Regions Bank’s North and South Buildings. Regions plans to maintain a “significant presence” in the existing and new development.

Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato said the city has been “very methodical and strategic” in the application process. The city formed its Healthcare Authority in 2021 and has eyed some kind of large scale medical facility for years.

“We talked with residents to get their input, we researched the various directions in which the healthcare industry is moving, and we commissioned a study that helped us determine the specific specialties we need in Hoover,” Brocato said. “No doubt, this ambulatory surgical center will have a tremendous impact on the Hoover economy.”

City officials said the Hoover HCA is filing the CON rather than an operating entity, as this allows the authority to build relationships with a variety of provider organizations.

The development will also include 450,000 square feet of existing corporate offices and the Riverwalk Health & Wellness Center, which will offer healthcare services from pediatrics to geriatrics.

The development team includes Corporate Realty and Home Communities Company, as well as Brasfield & Gorrie, Goodwyn Mills Cawood and Earl Swensson Associates.

Hoover residents are being asked to submit a handwritten letter of support or sign a pre-written letter to be included in the CON application file and sign a petition, which can be found at the city’s website.