A suspected impaired driver was hospitalized early Saturday after crashing a vehicle into a Hospice of the Valley facility in central Phoenix, striking another car first before plowing into the building. First responders were called to the scene near 16th Street and Osborn Road around 2 a.m., and everyone inside the other vehicle involved in the initial collision was unharmed.
According to AZ Family, one man was found inside the vehicle that plowed into the facility, according to the Phoenix Police Department. The driver was taken to the hospital for treatment, though the extent of his injuries was unclear per the outlet's report. Phoenix police had not announced whether the driver faces charges as of the report.
Employees were inside the building at the time of the crash, but no one was hurt, and residents were not evacuated from the affected structure, the station's report notes. The building sits within a larger campus where people live, part of Hospice of the Valley's broader central Phoenix footprint near East Flower Street, according to Greater Phoenix Chamber.
A Prominent Nonprofit With Deep Local Roots
Hospice of the Valley is no minor player in Phoenix healthcare. Founded in 1977 as Arizona's first hospice, it has grown into one of the nation's largest nonprofit hospice providers, serving more than 23,000 patients and families annually across Maricopa and northern Pinal counties without turning anyone away for financial reasons, according to the University of Arizona College of Medicine. The organization has appeared in Hoodline's own coverage before, including care it provided to ex-Phoenix police chief Ruben Ortega at the end of his life.
The crash lands amid a broader pattern of impaired driving colliding with buildings across the Phoenix area. In June, a suspected impaired pickup driver ran a red light at 59th Avenue and McDowell Road, sending a car into a nearby business and killing a 43-year-old woman, as Hoodline previously reported. In January 2025, an 88-year-old resident died after a suspected impaired driver crashed an SUV through the wall of a Gilbert senior care home before fleeing — a case that ended with second-degree murder and hit-and-run charges.
Arizona's Zero-Tolerance DUI Standard
Under Arizona Revised Statutes § 28-1381, a driver can be charged with DUI for being impaired to the “slightest degree” by alcohol, drugs, or toxic vapors, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation. First-offense penalties are mandatory and include jail time, more than $1,200 in fines and assessments, a 90-day license suspension, and required installation of an ignition interlock device. Arizona's implied consent law also means any driver suspected of DUI who refuses or fails chemical testing faces an automatic administrative license suspension of 90 days to a year from the state, independent of whatever happens in criminal court.
Statewide, alcohol-impaired collisions caused 347 deaths and 3,576 injuries in 2024, accounting for more than 28% of Arizona's traffic fatalities despite making up less than 5% of all crashes, per the Arizona Department of Transportation's Motor Vehicle Crash Facts report. Phoenix led the state in alcohol-related crashes that year with 1,351 incidents, according to Ramos Law — nearly a quarter of all impaired driving crashes statewide and more than a third of Maricopa County's total.
A Nationwide Problem for Buildings, Not Just Roads
Vehicles crash into commercial and public buildings roughly 100 times a day nationwide, causing about 16,000 injuries and 2,600 deaths annually, according to the Storefront Safety Council. Impaired driving is cited as the cause in roughly 15% of those incidents. Just days ago, Hoodline reported on an 18-year-old Mesa teen who rammed a car into a home, another example of the Valley's recurring vehicle-into-structure incidents.
In response to the state's persistent crash toll, the Arizona Department of Public Safety launched Arrive Alive Arizona in June, a five-year statewide initiative aimed at reducing collisions and fatalities through stepped-up enforcement, public education, and traffic technology. What formal charges the driver in Saturday's hospice crash may eventually face, along with toxicology results and the repair timeline for the damaged building, remain open questions as police continue investigating.
