After breaking ground in the summer of 2024, Turner Construction has started vertical construction on a $900 million hospital expansion in Northeastern Pennsylvania.
The contractor is now erecting steel on the 11-story, 600,000-square-foot patient tower at the Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center in Wilkes-Barre, according to a March 11 news release.
The structure will increase capacity at the hospital from 356 to 500 patient beds, expand operating rooms from 12 to 18, enlarge the emergency department and support Geisinger’s goal of providing all patients private rooms. When finished, the structure will contain more steel than the Eiffel Tower, according to New York City-based Turner.
The contractor said the project will support up to 3,800 construction jobs and generate approximately $1 billion in local economic impact. Turner expects as many as 450 workers on site during peak activity, per the release.
When the project broke ground in June 2024, Danville, Pennsylvania-based Geisinger, which serves approximately 1.2 million people in the state, said it had invested about $1.4 billion in Luzerne County and the surrounding area since 2008. The nonprofit system is also currently undertaking an $880 million expansion and modernization project at its Geisinger Medical Center in Danville.
Founded in 1915 by philanthropist Abigail Geisinger, the nonprofit generates $10 billion in annual revenues across 134 care sites, including 10 hospital campuses.
Healthcare and hospital builds and renovations have recently supplied steady business for contractors. Healthcare facilities planning, along with the burgeoning data center market, showed continued growth in the latest data from Dodge Construction Network even as broader commercial construction plans slowed.
Turner has been attuned to that trend. Earlier this month, the firm reported that major healthcare builds had helped fuel its record $29.9 billion in revenue for 2025. In February, Turner broke ground on the $500 million Baptist Health Sunrise Hospital in Broward County, Florida.
Other contractors have capitalized on activity in the sector as well. The U.S. arm of Sweden-based contractor Skanska, for example, recently celebrated topping out a $435 million hospital project in Fort Myers, Florida.
Turner expects the Geisinger Wyoming Valley facility to open in the first quarter of 2028.
