Hospital will add 500 jobs
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Plans for a new hospital in Janesville are proceeding. Work will begin on St. Mary's Hospital at the intersection of I-90 and Highway 11 this October. Kyle Geissler reports.
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St. Mary's Janesville rendering
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Mary C. Starmann-Harrison
JANESVILLE — In addition to pumping about $150 million into the local economy, a new hospital and clinic will add about 500 good-paying jobs to a community that’s been battered by job losses for the last 18 months.
Making good on promises first delivered in April 2008, officials with SSM Health Care of Wisconsin and Dean Health System said Thursday they’re moving ahead with plans for a 50-bed hospital and physicians office complex.
Construction will start in October on the 313,000-square-foot facility at the intersection of Interstate 90/39 and Highway 11 on Janesville’s east side.
When it opens in late 2011, the 163,000-square-foot St. Mary’s Janesville Hospital will be staffed by about 300 employees, a portion of whom might transfer from other SSM locations.
But officials have said a larger portion likely will be new hires.
The 150,000-square-foot Dean Clinic Janesville will create 44 new jobs. About 380 doctors and employees will transfer to the new facility from the Riverview and Northview clinics in Janesville.
Another 150 or so jobs will be created to serve the hospital and clinic, although they will not be direct employees of either St. Mary’s or Dean. Examples include environmental and waste services.
Bob Borremans of the Southwest Wisconsin Workforce Development Board said the project is significant on several fronts.
“A lot of these will be brand new jobs with good pay and benefits,” he said. “There’s no doubt about it, health care is a driver, the fastest growing sector in the economy.
“These are jobs that can’t be outsourced to some other country.”
A solid health care industry also is an economic development tool when it comes to recruiting other companies and industries to town, he said.
In addition, SSM and Dean are following the corporate citizenship model set by Mercy Health System in a number of community initiatives, both educational and on the economic development front, Borremans said.
Borremans said health care jobs are a hot topic at the Rock County Job Center, but the Janesville area is hampered by its lack of educational capacity in the field. Waiting lists for health care programs at Blackhawk Technical College are just too long, although steps are being taken to alleviate the crush, he said.
But, he noted, not all jobs in health care require nursing or doctoral degrees.
“There are plenty of other good jobs needed to run these operations,” he said.
Assembly Speaker Mike Sheridan, D-Janesville, said the project will provide a much-needed boost to the community.
“While serving the health care needs of the people of Janesville, the new Dean and St. Mary’s facility will create great economic opportunities,” Sheridan said. “The hospital and clinic will support close to 500 jobs in Janesville, and we know that improving our health care infrastructure will help attract new employers to the area, as well.”
SSM and Dean have said Janesville residents want more health care options.
Mary Starmann-Harrison, SSM’s president and CEO, said studies show the Janesville area will need 100 more hospital beds by 2011 and that 40 percent of residents leave Janesville for their health care.
“We think that 40 percent would rather stay in Janesville,” she said.
Mercy Health System operates Mercy Hospital in Janesville. Officials there repeatedly have said the community has enough hospital beds and the new hospital will duplicate services and drive up health care costs.
Starmann-Harrison and others have countered that competition will improve quality, drive efficiency and lower costs.
SSM—the parent of St. Mary’s—and Dean staged a groundbreaking ceremony in November.
But in February, officials delayed the project because of unfavorable interest rates in the tax-exempt bond markets. At the time, SSM included the Janesville project in a larger bond issue with other SSM projects.
Starmann-Harrison said Thursday the need for the project still exists, and the community has been unwavering in its support.
While bond markets haven’t improved much, the Janesville project is the partners’ top priority, she said. Recoveries in other investment markets, an improving economy and tighter control of operating expenses are the foundation to move the project forward, she said.
In the short term, SSM will dip into its cash reserves and wait for the bond markets to improve, she said.
The delay helped hospital and clinic officials firm up design plans for the facility, said Kerry Swanson, the hospital’s new president.
J.P. Cullen & Sons of Janesville will be one of the main contractors on the building project.
Craig Sammitt, Dean’s president and CEO, said the future of health care will involve deeper levels of collaboration and integration, particularly as reform looms on the horizon.
The Janesville project, he said, is an example of the necessary partnership between SSM, which primarily runs hospitals, and Dean, which primarily operates physician clinics.
Staff at the Dean clinics learned Thursday the project was back on track.
“There was a lot of applause and happiness,” said Mark McDade, a Dean surgeon. “There really wasn’t any doubt about the project, but there was some anticipation.
“This is an indicator that things are happening in this community.”
Sammitt and Starmann-Harrison agreed, saying Dean and SSM are pleased to support a community that has suffered so much in the last year.
Sammitt said he hopes the project triggers other investment in the Janesville area.
“It’s a great day for Janesville and a ray of hope for our local economy,” Starmann-Harrison said. “We’re ready to move full speed ahead and get this medical campus up and running.”
HOSPITAL FACTS
Here are a few facts about SSM Health Care and Dean Heath System’s new hospital and clinic:
Location: On a 50-acre site at the southeast corner of Interstate 90/39 and Highway 11.
Number of jobs: 344 direct jobs in the community and 155 indirect jobs.
Cost: $150 million. No state or federal funds will be used.
Size: The 50-bed hospital will be approximately 163,000 square feet. The clinic will be 150,000 square feet. The site includes space for future growth.
Opening date: Early 2011.
The new medical campus will use:
-- 1,073 tons of steel, a weight equivalent to about 2,200 cows.
-- 4,530 cubic yards of concrete, or enough for 45 homes with full basements.
-- 2.3 million feet of wire, about 436 miles or two roundtrips between Janesville and Chicago.
-- 191,0000 exterior bricks, about 35 miles or 140 laps around the Monterey Stadium if laid end-to-end.
-- 95,400 feet of wire, about 8 miles or the distance from Janesville to just past Edgerton.
-- 13,800 square feet of glass, more than enough to cover the Pontiac Convention Center.
-- 21,370 feet of HVAC piping, enough to reach downtown Janesville from the new medical campus.
Jul 19, 2009 at 11:03 p.m.
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Wow, JSM-touchy! My point simply was that the title of the article is misleading--that's it. In reading the article, 300 for the hospital, 44 for the clinic, and 150 indirect jobs to support both of those areas certainly does add up to nearly 500. Unlike many people who post to these articles, I don't do it to be a smart alec.
Jul 19, 2009 at 1:05 p.m.
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cmalspv: I didn't think reading was your strong point, but clearly math isn't either. The headline reads, "Hospital will add 500 new jobs". The hospital will add 450 jobs. The clinic will add 44. Hospital is a little easier to read, and convey, conceptually than health campus. Either way, the bulk of the new jobs is created by the hospital. 450 is not so far off 500, so your point looks like sour grapes.
Jul 19, 2009 at 9:47 a.m.
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It seems to me that there is a group of people who are only happy when they are miserable. The same people critisize and make negative comments about EVERY single article published. All I can say is it must really suck to be you. I for one am glad that Saint Mary's is building, I am glad that toner cartridges are being recycled, I am glad that SSI is bringing jobs to town, and I am glad that Kubota was purched by someone locally. You guys gonna complain when the new Walgreens and adjacent shopping center a open too?
Jul 19, 2009 at 9:18 a.m.
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JSM: The title IS deceiving, as you so aptly point out that there are two components to proposed campus;hospital and clinic. No jaundiced eye here.
Jul 19, 2009 at 2:30 a.m.
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I think if you add doctor jobs, you don't necessarily give jobs to unemployed doctors, you give jobs to doctors who come here and buy homes and gas and groceries with their salary. It is not Dean/St. Mary's responsibility to re-employ GM or any other unskilled workers. As such, this seems like a very odd criticism to make.
Jul 18, 2009 at 11:41 p.m.
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If the title is deceiving, it is because you are choosing to read it that way. The hospital is adding 500 jobs. Read my math below. The transfers are to the clinic. You've made a completely unsupported assertion that the other 494 jobs are going to be filled by people from other Dean locations. That's interesting -- given all the negativity about Janesville and Rock County I didn't think it would be a draw.
I'm sure you don't know the entire population of Janesville and Rock County, regarding employment status. It takes more than the few jobs you listed to build, run and maintain a health campus. Medical personnel cannot construct a hospital, nor do they want to deal with the administrative aspect. Moreover, it is not Dean's job to replace GM. This health campus was planned before GM closed the plant and kudos to Dean for following through even after the closure.
Jul 18, 2009 at 5:35 p.m.
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The title of the article is deceiving. There may be 500 employment POSITIONS but it won't be putting 500 Rock County unemployed people to work. I do not know any physicians, nurses, lab techs, xray tech, etc who are looking for work. A great majority of the positions will be filled by transfers from other Dean locations. I am not arguing that there will be some new jobs created but it is nowhere near 500 that the title implies.
Jul 18, 2009 at 2:20 p.m.
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There will be more than 44 new jobs created. The writing isn't lucid, but I think you are getting confused because there are two components of the new campus: the clinic and the hospital. The clinic will have 44 new jobs outright. The hospital will have 300 new jobs, a portion which *may* be filled by transfers but which will not be filled by any of the transfers from the current Riverview and Northview Clinics (the 380 transfers mentioned). Then, on top of the 344 new positions, there will be about 150 other new jobs. That brings us to a total of 494 new jobs or nearly 500. No smoke and mirrors here -- just read carefully and drop the jaundiced eye.
Jul 18, 2009 at 1:51 p.m.
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As far as nurses, it doesn't matter if it is a job shift from one facility to another. Nurses are aging out of the field very rapidly. There will nearly always be a need for new ones.
Jul 18, 2009 at 1:14 p.m.
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Lets hope the people cleaning and doing kitchen get payed $10 or more . Most of the time these jobs are outside companies so people are part-time or get no benifits at all. Shame to think these people work there and get no health insurance or other benifits .
Jul 18, 2009 at 10:19 a.m.
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Unidentified: I agree that the numbers, as printed, seem a little jumbled. Add to that the "tighter control of operating expenses" and I find myself wondering how that is going to affect the project as a whole. Will there be a scaling back of services to save money, much like Mercy has been doing? I guess we will have to wait and see.
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jvlnative: I also was thinking of the currently unemployed and while this project can be a good thing for the area economically, can they wait the two years it will take to complete the project?
Jul 18, 2009 at 8:59 a.m.
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One does not need to be a nurse or doctor to have a well paying job in health care.
Jul 17, 2009 at 9:22 p.m.
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Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying no good will come of this. However, up to this point the coverage has gone a bit overboard in terms of net impact. This article is only one example. In the end, this will be a reshuffle of the current man power with a few low paying jobs added to the mix. I would gamble any RN positions or other significant jobs that are added will be lost at other competing facilities. In addition, as others agree, there won't be much in the way of decent paying jobs for people who don't have degrees in the medical field. That said, even if it only adds a handful of jobs, it's better than nothing.
Jul 17, 2009 at 8:06 p.m.
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What about all the people building the hospital? Even if they are from out of town the will eat here, drink here etc. Hopefully most of the construction workers are local. I've been very impressed with the JP Cullen crews work on the high schools.
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The rest are right, this is good for the local economy. I agree the headline is a bit sensational, but isn't that true with most headlines these days.
Jul 17, 2009 at 7:54 p.m.
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I understand this has a positive outlook, but it also said it will open in early 2011. Can the unemployed here in Janesville wait another 2 years for a chance at a "good paying" job? I hope a lot of the displaced workers are going to school for nursing, or medical related carrers or they will be no better off than they were.
Jul 17, 2009 at 7:27 p.m.
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Unidentified, don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Obviously regional health spending is not going to realistically increase just because of a hospital, but it will concentrate some jobs in Janesville that are now in other cities, and as noted there are indirect benefits as well (think of all the drivers delivering supplies). What this will provide to Janesville in terms of payroll is obviously a positive.
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Mark my words, nothing can replace the 1200 jobs lost at GM (or the 5000-odd jobs lost in previous shift shut-downs and mechanization). There is no one magic bullet. But that does not mean good news isn't still good news.
Jul 17, 2009 at 7:12 p.m.
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these will be high paying jobs for people with degrees in this field , this does nothing for the unemployed plant worker who hasnt' the degree or the time or money or ability to get one. this might open up about 10 custodial jobs and anothet 10 kitchen helper jobs but thats about it
Jul 17, 2009 at 6:55 p.m.
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I've never seen such jumbled numbers.
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"500 good-paying jobs to a community"
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"Hospital will be staffed by about 300 employees, a portion of whom might transfer from other SSM locations."
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"Janesville will create 44 new jobs. About 380 doctors and employees will transfer to the new facility from the Riverview and Northview clinics in Janesville"
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"344 direct jobs in the community and 155 indirect jobs."
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So basically, after they shut down the other two clinics we're looking at 44 new jobs. I would gamble, on the low end, that of those 44 about half will be cuts made at Mercy, Beloit, and Evansville due to this new competing facility. Probably more considering Mercy has already seen a decline in patients due people losing benefits. About ten will be jobs that pay about 10 dollars an hour to clean up hospital rooms. The net positive here isn't as dramatic as we're being led to believe. A vast majority of Janesville's population won't even be able to apply for these jobs. I think the new high speed rail line has more upside in terms of real jobs that everyone has potential access to. That is if we get the production here in town. I'm a fan of good news, but not smoke and mirrors.
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