Growing With Need
By Lisa Nicita
The Arizona Republic
MESA, Ariz. (Sept. 26, 2009) -- Travis Senitza of Gilbert was born at Banner Desert Medical Center back when shag carpeting and disco were all the rage. In fact, he was born in 1977, before it was known as Banner Desert. So were two of his children, born at the same hospital in 1997 and 1999. His third, Lily, arrived in 2004, after the name change and a major medical merger made Banner one of the largest hospital systems in the country.
"It's kind of neat to think 32 years ago I was born there, and there was nothing but fields around, and all of my kids were born there," Senitza said. "Hopefully that's where our grandkids will be born."
Humble beginning
What is now a flagship facility within the Banner system, Banner Desert opened in 1921 after John and Geneva LeSueur of Mesa donated their home for a six-bed hospital. It was the community's first.
Construction on what is now Banner Desert began in 1970, back when the hospital was called Desert Samaritan, a name that still sticks with locals.
