Summit County Hospital to create jobs - boost economy

This article is courtesy of the Summit Daily Newspaper.

SUMMIT COUNTY Hospital to create jobs, boost economy KIM MARQUIS March 24, 2004 SUMMIT COUNTY

Summit County is poised for an upgrade in health-care services as the planning process for a new hospital sails along, but a spring groundbreaking will boost the local economy first. Eighty workers will be needed when construction begins on the planned 90,000-square-foot facility and 40 more will be added by winter, according to Bob Hansen, who is heading up the project for M.A. Mortenson, one of the largest builders in Colorado.

Roofers, dry wallers, electricians and general laborers will be hired,

Hansen said, with 60 to 70 percent of employees hired locally. Hansen said a list of local contractors will be included in the bidding process for subcontracts.

Construction on the 25-bed hospital is expected to take 16 to 18 months.

Centura Health/St. Anthony's Hospitals is spending $50 million on the project, which is slated for completion in December 2005. That year, construction is expected to begin on an adjacent 40,000-square-foot medical office building and Community Care Clinic, completing the 16-acre medical campus.

While medical services do not generate substantial sales tax revenue, county manager Ron Holliday said economic spinoff from more than two years of construction, plus the eventual addition of medical staff, will boost the local economy.

As the closest town to the medical campus, Frisco should benefit in several ways, said interim town manager Theresa Casey.

"The new hospital is so close (to the current medical facility on Summit Boulevard) that I don't think we'll lose jobs but we may gain them," Casey said.

"Those employees will shop for things like lunch or go to the grocery store after work. The concentration of so many people may have a huge impact on us."

Holliday said new medical services not available in the county, such as an intensive care unit, pediatrics ward and ability to keep patients overnight, will also be economically beneficial.

"We will be keeping money in the community that is currently leaving" when patients and families must go to Denver or Vail for treatment, Holliday said.

Forty additional medical professionals and associated staff are expected to be needed when the hospital opens, said Centura Health spokeswoman Annie Jerant. Those jobs include nurses, technicians, pharmacists, cafeteria employees and housekeeping.

"Everything will be bigger. We'll be running 24/7 and it will require more staff," Jerant said.

Summit Medical Center currently sees about 10,000 outpatient and 400 inpatient visits annually. Jerant expects those numbers to increase by 65 percent in the first year, to 14,500 outpatient and 1,400 inpatient visits.

The medical office building and community care clinic are going to be developed by a group of local doctors in conjunction with the county.

Dennis Flint, chief executive officer of High Country Health Care, which represents the doctors, said all but two of the practices operating in the Summit Vista Professional building in Frisco will move to the new facility and join more professionals, tripling the number of doctors.

"We're getting calls from all over the country from people who want to come to Summit County to do business," Flint said. "From the Denver market, we've had folks who want to make a greater commitment to Summit County." Flint said Denver Cardiology and Colorado Surgical Services are two confirmed businesses that will open practices at the new medical campus when the office buildings are completed.

Kim Marquis can be reached at 668-3998, ext. 249 or kmarquis@summitdaily.com.