Healthcare and Biomedical

Build a Healthier Business in Greater Phoenix

Greater Phoenix is regionally competitive and a national leader in the healthcare and biomedical industries. The region is a premier treatment destination and has made $3 billion in strategic investments in its emerging healthcare enterprise and research capabilities through 2021.

With a thriving startup ecosystem and funding received from the Build Back Better Regional Challenge, Greater Phoenix has laid the groundwork to be an innovative, forward-thinking healthcare hub.

Healthcare & Biomedical Industry Report

Get our 37-page, in-depth report on the healthcare and biomedical ecosystem in Greater Phoenix.

Large Collaborative Network

With leading national research firms, nonprofit companies and over 140 healthcare startups in the region, it is easy to see how Greater Phoenix has become one of the leading areas for healthcare and biomedical research.

Exceptional Talent Pipeline

With nearly 6,000 graduates from related degree programs in 2018, the highly educated workforce in Greater Phoenix is among the most sought-after candidates by healthcare and biomedical institutes across the nation.

Research and Development

As a result of strategic investments, Greater Phoenix is equipped with state-of-the-art research infrastructure and facilities. Leading research and clinical institutions in Greater Phoenix are making breakthroughs in translational research and healthcare delivery innovations through strategic partnerships.

Robust Workforce

Greater Phoenix is expected to grow nearly 90,000 healthcare jobs in the next decade.

Local Innovation

Health and wellness funding has skyrocketed as more startups rise in the region. Forty local innovations received VC funding in 2021.

Quality of Life

With the significantly lower cost of living across all major expenditures, Greater Phoenix also offers shorter commute times for more free time and more than 300 days of sunshine annually.

Large Collaborative Network

Leading National Research Firms

There are hundreds of healthcare and biomedical firms in Greater Phoenix. Below are a few of the largest healthcare employers in Greater Phoenix.

Nonprofit Support

Greater Phoenix nonprofits are committed to supporting innovators in the space and furthering biosciences. The Arizona Bioscience Roadmap is a collaborative, long-term strategic plan, originally commissioned by the Flinn Foundation, outlining Arizona’s goals within select areas of the biosciences through 2025.

Collaborative Innovation

In December 2021, the Economic Development Administration (EDA) named GPEC as a finalist in the $1B Build Back Better Regional Challenge, in which the region will compete to receive up to $100 million in American Rescue Plan funding with the goal to develop and scale the New Healthcare Innovation Economy in Greater Phoenix.

The New Health Innovation Economy is a partnership comprising 18 coalition members and more than 40 partner organizations from industry, local governments, education institutions, nonprofits, and foundations. This project will create an inclusive end-to-end healthcare innovation ecosystem that achieves new wealth creation opportunities across broad social, demographic, and economic groups and geographies. Healthcare in the region will shift away from traditional hospitals and clinical settings and toward seamless continuity of care in home and community settings.

30.1%

Projected employment growth in the healthcare & biomedical industries over the next decade is 30.1%, compared to 16.7% nationally.

Source: Lightcast 2020 Q1

#12

Mayo Clinic Phoenix ranks as the 12th-best hospital in the nation & 41st-best in the world.

Source: Newsweek

2500+

There are more than 2,500 active, enrolling or recruiting clinical trials in Greater Phoenix.

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov

Exceptional Talent Pipeline

Degree programs in Greater Phoenix support healthcare job growth seen throughout the region

Top-Tier Universities & Programs

Greater Phoenix’s education pipeline surpasses top competitors in the marketplace. Unique programs at universities that operate in the region including Creighton, Arizona State and University of Arizona attract graduate students from around the nation.

University alignment helps support healthcare and biomedical operations in Greater Phoenix

Program Alignment

Arizona’s institutions of higher education are training the healthcare and biomedical workforce of the future via innovative partnerships and high-quality programs with clinics and hospitals around the region.

Competitor Market Talent Pipeline

Source: Lightcast 2022 Q1 Dataset

Download the full industry analysis for more on the network and pipeline.

Healthcare and Biomedical Report

Research and Development

Phoenix Bioscience Hubs

Discovery Oasis

North Phoenix

Discovery Oasis is a 120-acre medical and research campus with 3.3 million square feet of facilities, created for the entire ecosystem of biomedical innovators and home to Mayo Clinic and ASU Health Futures.

Discovery Oasis Website

Phoenix Medical Quarter

Midtown Phoenix

Announced in April of 2023, the Phoenix Medical Quarter is a bio-innovation district anchored by Creighton University, Barrow Neurological Institute and Phoenix Children’s Hospital, in and around Park Central.

Read the Announcement

Phoenix Bioscience Core (PBC)

Downtown Phoenix

A 30-acre academic and scientific research campus with anchor universities including University of Arizona, Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University, PBC has 6 million square feet planned for full build out.

PBC Website

The Phoenix Bioscience Core (PBC) is a premier and dynamic environment for research activities in Greater Phoenix

Biomedical Research in the Heart of Greater Phoenix

The highest concentration of research scientists and complementary research professionals in the region is currently in downtown Phoenix at the Phoenix Bioscience Core. Firms and researchers have unprecedented opportunities to operate and grow at PBC, currently developed to 1.5 million square feet with plans to grow to more than 6 million square feet of biomedical-related research, academic and clinical facilities.

Twenty-six different entities operate at PBC, including BacVax, Center for Entrepreneurial Innovation, Dignity Health, TGen, Wexford Science + Technology, and several from ASU and UArizona. The bioscience core serves as a forum for collaboration between entrepreneurs, with Venture Cafe Phoenix operations and unique programming such as the Artist + Researcher Exhibition through the PBC Arts Committee.

Healthcare innovation in Greater Phoenix is supported by research programs throughout the region

Healthcare and Research at Scottsdale Cure Corridor

The Scottsdale Cure Corridor is a concept designed to promote the innovative activities around the concentration of the Bio-Life Sciences sector from Shea Boulevard to the Scottsdale Airpark. With a concentration of cutting-edge research, clinical trial activity and world class patient care delivery, the Scottsdale Cure Corridor is a foundation of the region’s innovation.

Healthcare research and innovation in Greater Phoenix

Healthcare Research and Innovation at Midwestern University

Glendale Midwestern University, located in the West Valley, is on the cutting edge of a variety of healthcare research. Its vision to expand the collaborative research network and build an institutional research investment based on its multidisciplinary team investigators in nanoscience and nanomaterials has been displayed in the growth of its Nanomedicine Center of Excellence in Translational Cancer Research and its training offered to students in fields such as pharmacy, biomedical Science, osteopathic medicine, dental medicine and veterinary medicine.

Avondale Health-Tech Corridor

Avondale Health-Tech Corridor is a growing center for specialty healthcare and technology organizations in the West Valley. The eight square-mile center, which houses over 390 companies and 8,550 employees, is home to several medical providers and researchers including City of Hope, Abrazo West, AKOS Medical Campus, BioLife, Banner Estrella, and Phoenix Children’s Southwest Specialty and Urgent Care.

Photo credit: Avondale EDGE

Robust Workforce

Healthcare Workforce in Greater Phoenix

Phoenix is expected to add 88,000 healthcare jobs in the next decade — more than healthcare innovation and biomedical hubs such as Minneapolis, San Francisco and Seattle. The region offers a skilled, diverse workforce that is continuously fueled by globally recognized universities and community colleges. Institutions that prepare highly qualified graduates for in-demand disciplines within the healthcare and bioscience industries include A.T. Still University, Arizona State University, Creighton, Grand Canyon University, Maricopa Community Colleges, Midwestern University, Northern Arizona University and the University of Arizona.

Source: Lightcast 2020 Q1

Below are a few sample occupations compared across major metros.

Occupation	Phoenix	Boston	San Diego	San Francisco
Registered Nurse	38,742	64,654	25,311	40,519
Software Developers and Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers	26,709	53,455	19,661	62,095
Clinical Laboratory Technologists and Technicians	6,983	9,178	3,027	4,476
Medical and Health Services Managers	6,010	12,617	4,003	6,844
Medical Dosimetrists, Medical Records Specialists, and Health Technologists and Technicians	5,100	5,375	3,588	4,300
Physical Therapists	2,736	5,209	1,794	3,280
Computer Hardware Engineers	1,550	2,099	1,088	2,163
Healthcare Support Workers, All Other	1,508	1,411	1,274	1,187
Medical Transcriptionists	1,156	516	217	189
Health Information Technologists, Medical Registrars, Surgical Assistants, and Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Workers	1,147	1,271	1,164	862
Total	95,020	193,111	78,086	151,052

Download the full industry analysis for more on the Greater Phoenix workforce.

Healthcare and Biomedical Report

Local Innovation

Phoenix-Based Health Tech Startups

Greater Phoenix has more than 140 healthcare startups. Listed below are three examples of the type of innovative companies growing in the region.

Venture Capital Funding

In 2021, funding in the health and wellness sector in Greater Phoenix grew 33% year-over-year for a total of $232.6M invested in 40 local innovations. Below are some of the companies that closed on notable rounds since the start of 2021.

AZ Innovation Challenge Winners

Each year, the Arizona Commerce Authority hosts the Arizona Innovation Challenge, which awards $3 million in total to winners. That’s the largest available amount for any challenge of its kind in the country. Below is a list of winners from the healthcare and biomedical industry in Greater Phoenix from 2019 to 2021.

Company	Winning Year	Description
	2021	Offers personalized concierge nursing service that provides qualified, on-demand nursing at home.
	2021	Standardizing new medical training through physical products, new methods of assessment and credentialing, and an online platform.
	2021	Developing Hespiro, a respiratory assist device that delivers a mixture of heliox and oxygen.
	2021	Produced AI care management platform for people with Alzheimer’s and mental illness.
	2021	Performs lateral patient transfers through the use of its SimPull product.
	2020	Drives neonatal care beyond the traditional hospital setting to treat for jaundice and other neonatal conditions in the home.
	2020	Performs real-time microbial monitoring.
	2019	Manufacturers Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) instruments for the research community, including the first commercial SPR Microscopy.
	2019	Electric toothbrush designed specifically to address the increasing incidence rate of ventilator acquired pneumonia (VAP) within hospitals and acute care facilities.
	2019	Discovers and develops medicines that regain control of genes hijacked by cancer that drive therapeutic resistance and cancer relapses. Primary cancer treatments that also make the effect of existing therapies more durable.
	2019	Phoenix-based medical device company focused on using additive manufacturing to address unmet surgeon needs.
	2019	Scottsdale-based startup using artificial intelligence and augmented reality to automate visits to the doctor’s office through kiosks.
	2019	Scottsdale-based chronic care management program for seniors with Medicare, delivered through Alexa.

Quality of Life

Greater Phoenix residents enjoy a vibrant lifestyle with affordable living options

Experience a vibrant lifestyle and diverse culture at an affordable cost of living.

Enjoy the outdoors with more than 300 days of sunshine, average temperatures of 75 degrees, convenient access to over 400 hiking trails and globally recognized sporting events. Take part in a vibrant arts and culture scene that includes prominent classical arts to public art to craft markets and a diverse range of music and cultural events. And, eat well with fresh farmers markets in every city, and globally recognized chefs and culinary experiences at your doorstep. Select a category of interest to learn more about Greater Phoenix living.