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Hospital projects give boost to local economy

JANESVILLE — Two new hospitals are under construction in Rock County and two hospital expansion projects in Walworth County are going a long way to boost the local economy.

In Janesville, construction began last October on a $150 million hospital and clinic being built by SSM Health Care of Wisconsin and Dean Health System.

In Edgerton, construction of a $26 million hospital started in April and is expected to finish in fall 2011.

The 52,000-square-foot hospital was downsized from 25 beds to 18 beds, but Dean Health Systems has plans to build a 10,000-square-foot clinic alongside the hospital.

In Walworth County, Mercy Health Systems is in the process of a $45 million expansion of Mercy Walworth Hospital and Medical Center on Wisconsin Highway 67 in Geneva Township east of Delavan.

The project will triple the size of the current facility, boosting the number of hospital beds from six to 25, and increasing square footage from 60,000 to 200,000, according to details of the plan, revealed at a June 3 groundbreaking ceremony.

And Aurora Lakeland Medical Center in Elkhorn is in the final stages of a $20 million renovation.

James Otterstein, Rock County’s economic development manager, said the hospital and clinic project already has helped the area. An infusion of new, permanent jobs next year will pack an even bigger economic punch, he said.

“You’ve got a two-pronged impact approach,” Otterstein said. “On the front end, you get the construction side; then you have the operations. The silver lining in all of this is it’s a catalyst all the way through.”

Otterstein noted the medical industry has been growing aggressively in the area in recent years.

“There’s been a significant amount of medical-related projects in the last two years in our market,” he said. “I would argue that it is a great time for the county to have these two health care projects advancing during the economic climate that not only the nation is dealing with, but the region as well.

“The projects associated with the medical industry have been growing exponentially.”

Read the full story in the Sept. 22, 2010 e-edition of The Janesville Messenger, HERE.