NAMPA, Idaho — After sitting empty for two years, a decision has finally been made about the future of the building that once housed Mercy Medical Center in Nampa.
It will soon be demolished, and the land sold.
For decades, the hospital on 12th Avenue was Nampa's lone medical center.
Saint Alphonsus purchased the building in 2010, but it has been vacant since the summer of 2017 when the hospital moved its services to the new Saint Alphonsus Medical Nampa Center adjacent to Interstate 84.
After years of trying to donate the facility and the land it sits on, Saint Alphonsus announced Wednesday that they have exhausted all possibilities and have decided to demolish the building and sell the land.
Leaders at Saint Alphonsus say getting to that final decision wasn’t easy, because they realize the valuable memories that many people have from within its walls.
Like others in the community, Nampa resident William Hanson reminisces about the past as he walks by the now empty hospital on 12th Avenue.
“I trained here at Mercy,” Hanson said. “Back in 1975.”
Hanson went to Boise State where he studied to become a radiologic technologist. That education - and the on-the-job training he received at Mercy - helped him in his career around the Northwest.
From its original opening in 1968 until 2010 when it was acquired by St. Al’s, the hospital was known as Mercy Medical Center. Many locals still call it that.
“I liked Mercy, it was a nice hospital to work with,” Hanson said.
No matter if you call it, the building will soon be no more.
“We are going to demolish it and re-purpose this land out here in south Nampa,” explained Travis Leach, president of Saint Alphonsus Nampa.
According to Leach, Saint Alphonsus Health System tried to donate the building and land to several local groups, but taking care of the large facility was simply too much.
“Nobody could quite take on the infrastructure of the building because it is too large for any particular entity, so know of them were able to come to fruition after many, many talks,” said Leach.
That’s mostly because of how many repairs and improvements the building needed.
“It requires a lot of maintenance,” Leach said. “It’s over 50 years old.”
In terms of care, the newer Saint Alphonsus Nampa Medical Center on Garrity Boulevard and I-84 took the patient load of the old facility in 2017.
Right across the parking from the soon-to-be demolished site, a Saint Al’s emergency room and doctor’s office was completed three months after the hospital closed. That ER now provides for the needs of south Nampa.
Saint Alphonsus is now working on figuring out how and when they will demolish the building. They say when it is demolished and the land is sold, they hope the site can host a new community asset that will improve the lives residents in the area.
A piece of Nampa history, it's a bittersweet moment for residents like Hanson, who says he is sad to see the hospital go.
“Oh yeah," he said. "It’s a part of my history.”