I sooo hope they are able to build soon. The Mercy ER is an absolute joke! My daughter needed treatment 10 days ago for an asthma attack / anxiety attack that we couldn't get under control with her inhaler. She had felt as if someone was standing on her chest.

I took her to the ER - as most of you will have experienced... even with only a couple of people to be seen, I waited with her for an hour, while she struggled to breathe.

I finally went back up to the desk, and while the "staff" was giggling and laughing and talking about their latest escapades with boyfriends and such, my daughter was crying from fear she would suffocate! I asked them how much longer it would be before she could be seen. The gal said they were busy. (There was NO ambulance in the bay, no one else had come in) I asked "Its not going to be another hour, is it?" She said "quite possible".

That was it! I pulled her out of there, drove up to Edgerton (who DID have an ambulance in the bay). She was seen IMMEDIATELY! She was treated within 10 minutes.

Now I know better than even attempt Mercy's ER. I've NEVER been able to get the service that Edgerton offers. I just needed her to be seen. As it turns out, she had to suffer an extra 1-1/2 hours for treatment.

Javon Bea should be so proud!

I for one, can't wait to see SSM open their doors here in Janesville!!!

Change really scares some of you people, don't it? (At least thats how it looks in the previous blog about the Dean St Mary delay.) When many people should be upset, because this is a city that needs some jobs created and this hospital would create jobs.

what about ssm's plan to build new edgerton hospital with edgerton?

My bet is that they are using this an a convenient excuse to delay a project that was a tad "iffy" in the best of circumstances. Unfortunately for Dean Insurance, they have apparently low-balled contracts with local employers to gain a captive market base for the new hospital. With the delay, it must now put up with those rates for a longer period of time than expected without a new hospital to steer patients to. Too bad for the patients if this means they may have to go to Madison for services that could be done in Janesville.

And, yes, it is a common practice to use profits from one hospital to bankroll another, but Dean-St. Marys, for whatever reason, has chosen not to do so in this case.

Just a clarification because I'm a nerd. SSM does enjoy profits. A more appropriate title is "not-for-profit" instead of non-profit. The difference between revenue and expenses is still their profit margin just like any for-profit company. The difference is that, unlike a for-profit, they don't have to pay shareholder dividends. The idea for a not-for-profit is that all profits get reinvested in the organization to address community need.

Also, there should be no problem with sharing profit between entities within a system so SMJ could use $ from Madison.

I would say they are looking to tap into some cheap or free money that will be coming to the State via the ecomonmic stimulas package signed the day before. Give it a week and you will see them leveraging the move with the promise of how many construction jobs and full time jobs this project will create.

llund22 probably means this WSJ article:
http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/local/43...
.
SSM says they used cash generated by St. Mary's in Madison to fund that hospital's addition, but they don't have cash reserves from Janesville because they don't have a hospital here. (Dean is an affiliate partner, not a subsidiary.) It wouldn't be prudent to take cash reserves from another hospital (if that is legally possible, which it may not be) to build this one. They expected to be able to borrow money at around 5% but instead that has shot up to 9%, because the entire banking industry is leery of construction at this time.
.
(SSM has issued bonds before and there is money flowing toward bonds right now, but I don't know what sort of interest rate they would have to guarantee.)
.
SSM is also a non-profit. They may have higher per-patient revenues but that isn't the same thing as profit.
http://www.guidestar.org/pqShowGsReport....

Great job with your last victory SSM. Even with loaded hands Margarito couldn't touch you. Take your time coming up here from Cali, it's still cold up here. Sugar Shane Mosley, I can't wait.

I think they are making a wise business decision in this current economic climate. Many businesses are revisiting projected growth and future plans - it just makes good business sense.

llund22, my guess is it has more to do with the construction company's ability to get credit to buy materials to build the thing. Strong, proven construction companies all across the US are having difficulties getting materials because the line of credit with the bank has disappeared.

How can they be concerned about money and credit? There was just an article in the paper that they paid CASH for their enormous new addition at St Mary's in Madison. The article also stated how St Mary's was making a lot more profit than other local hospitals.
I hope they don't decide later to cancel their plans altogether. It would be good for Mercy and for Janesville to have some competition in the healthcare market.

I agree cappyman. I had Dean insurance and paid half of what I pay for Mercy. And I work in the Mercy system. Its ridiculous what you have to pay for insurance anymore, no matter what company you have. I had a much much better plan with my Dean insurance though, I was very sad when I had to switch to Mercy and get all new doctors.

I've had several problems with MercyCare changing the way they bill the insurance companies and because of the changes with wording, the insurance companies will not pay for something that was covered prior to the change.

don't get sick.

we changed our insurance to dean and pay half of what mercycare was. we need this competition. no more strangle hold for mercy

Res we need a new hospital so the monopolizing can end and give people a better choice for better health care.