The plan is to develop a medical office building complex and recruit new providers to the Far East, said Nathan Worley, group chief strategy officer for The Hospitals of Providence. The health care group is El Paso’s biggest, and it is one of the area’s largest employers with more than 5,000 employees.

“We’ve strategically looked at how to provide health care services, and the natural next move was to place more assets in the Eastlake and Horizon area,” Worley told El Paso Inc.

The land purchase was $15 million, and the total investment in the new campus could well exceed the $200 million Tenet invested into its Transmountain campus, which opened in 2016, a Hospitals of Providence spokesperson said.

The complex will help Providence develop its outpatient services in Far East El Paso, Worley said, and could include primary care, internal medicine, orthopedics, pulmonary care and more.

He said the complex could bring five to 10 physicians to the Far East.

“We’ve recruited a number over the last few years,” Worley said. “Ten to 15 additional jobs are created when we recruit a new physician.”

Friday’s announcement adds another chapter to The Hospitals of Providence’s continued investment in Far East El Paso as city development stretches out.

In 2008, the health care group opened its East campus, a full-scale hospital, at 3280 Joe Battle Blvd. And in 2017, it opened a Horizon City campus, which offers emergency care services.

Tenet, which is based in Dallas, has invested nearly $2 billion in the El Paso market since 2000.

The far Eastside is growing at a faster pace than other parts of the city, with everything from industrial space to new homes, restaurants and businesses.

“It’s a rapidly growing community, and a number of younger families are moving into this area to take advantage of new homes that are built over the next five to 10 years,” Worley said.

He added that the hospital group will continue to keep an eye on the health care needs on that side of El Paso, including the possibility of building a new hospital.

“It will be part of our ongoing evaluation of need for the area,” Worley said. “Right now, we are beginning with the medical office and new physicians to meet existing needs and grow as the community grows.”

Email El Paso Inc. reporter Sara Sanchez at sesanchez@elpasoinc.com or call 915-534-4422.