‘Care close to home:’ Via Christi breaks ground on new west Wichita ER
A new emergency room is on its way to west Wichita.
Via Christi broke ground on its new west Wichita emergency department on the northwest corner of Kellogg and 119th Street West.
“This location was chosen with great intention,” Via Christi president Laurie Labarca said. “It’s a strategic access point for the expanding neighborhoods of west Wichita and beyond.
By placing the department there, “we are ensuring that convenient care isn’t just a phrase, it’s a reality for thousands of families who live nearby this location.”
Several Via Christi leaders, community partners and local officials attended the groundbreaking Wednesday afternoon. Speakers at the ceremony including Howard Chang, the medical director of the St. Francis emergency room, and Joseph Wysocki, Via Christi’s chief mission integration officer. Fr. Aaron Spexarth, the pastor at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, provided the blessing.
The 11,250-square-foot facility will be staffed by approximately 40 healthcare professionals and will include 10 treatment rooms and an onsite CT scanner and laboratory. The facility is expected to open early 2027.
“Via Christi west will offer the same level of high level clinical expertise you expect from Via Christi,” Labarca said.
“It’s care close to home,” Via Christi’s chief strategy officer, Christopher Dodson, told The Eagle. “The whole goal of this is to put the right level of care closest to where patients need it. To reduce wait times across the community, but also just reduce travel times and make sure that when patients and their families need care that they can get to it quickly and easily.”
The location was determined looking at the needs of the community.
“West Wichita had the need,” Dodson said. “We look at the communities we serve as a whole and make sure that we’re serving the communities in the best way that we possibly can. This freestanding ER meets a huge need in west Wichita.”
Via Christi is the largest healthcare provider in Kansas. Just recently, the healthcare company announced it was hoping to expand even more in the area by signing a letter of intent to purchase the former Rock Regional Hospital in Derby.
This story was originally published March 25, 2026 at 4:56 PM.
