Plans on schedule for new hospital

Tony DiNicola

SSM Health Care of Wisconsin and Dean Health System hospital plans

JANESVILLE — Plans for a $130 million hospital and medical complex on Janesville’s east side are on track, with dirt expected to be turned by the end of the year.

SSM Health Care of Wisconsin and Dean Health System announced plans in April for the medical campus at the southeast corner of Interstate 90/39 and Racine Street.

SSM, the parent company of St. Mary’s Hospital in Madison and St. Clare in Baraboo, will build the 50-bed hospital. Dean will build a medical building that for the most part will replace its existing Riverview Clinic.

Despite news that General Motors plans to close its Janesville assembly plant, SSM and Dean officials have vowed that their project in Janesville will continue.

The hospital campus is expected to have an annual economic impact of $164 million, including $40 million in payroll and $124 million in sales revenue.

Rick Stoughton, SSM’s director of project management, said the facility should open by December 2010.

Officials now are determining how much square footage each department will need, how rooms will be laid out and what will be adjacent to what.

“We can’t really move on to the exterior design until we figure all those things out,” he said.

Stoughton said work at the 50-acre site should begin in November or December, with the complex’s foundation being poured in February. The remainder of 2009 will be dedicated to the building’s super structure.

The hospital will be between 150,000 and 175,000 square feet, while the physician office building will be about 120,000 square feet.

Stoughton said SSM and Dean have selected a contractor for the project, but he wouldn’t identify the company until contracts are signed. He also declined to identify the name of the new facility.

The name, however, is not likely to be “New Janesville Hospital,” which is the name attached to a Web site dedicated to the project (www.newjanesvillehospital.com).

The site shows a preliminary site plan, which Stoughton said is conceptual in nature and not likely to be the final plan.

“We know that there will be a central driveway with the hospital on the right and the clinic on the left as you drive in,” he said. “They will be connected by what we’re calling the Town Square, which is essentially a fancy lobby.”

At some point this fall, the project must get a conditional-use permit from the city. As the project progresses, it will need various state and local approvals and licenses.

“We’re pretty much on track with the project, although it seems that we’re moving at a snail’s pace in trying to figure out where everything will go,” Stoughton said.