Document text
Asante schedules $90 million expansion By MELISSA MARTIN Mail Tribune Asante Health Systems plans to issue $90 million in tax-free bonds next month to finance a $75 million expansion and remodel of Rogue Valley Medical Center. The hospital will get a new emergency department, 136 more private rooms, a larger short-stay surgery wing and a renovated imaging area, said Scott Kelly, vice president of planning, marketing and business development. The additional $15 million would reduce debt and fund other projects. Projects could receive attention in conjunction with $15 million plan In addition to roughly $75 million in upgrades planned for Rogue Valley Medical Center's main campus on Barnett Road, Asante may spend up to $15 million on various projects at the following sites: paying down the debt at the $52 million Three Rivers Community Hospital, which opened in May in Grants Pass. capital expenditures for equipment at the original Three Rivers Community Hospital campus at 1505 and 1596 NW Washington Blvd., Grants Pass; construction, remodeling and equipment for an occupational health facility, 2911 Siskiyou Blvd., Medford; construction, remodeling and equipment at Home Health, 2900 E. Barnett Road; property acquisition, construction, remodeling and equipment at 2901 E. Barnett Road, Medford in a building leased by Hearthstone; construction, remodeling and equipment for a medical office at 2960 Doctors Park Drive, Medford; construction, remodeling and equipment for health care services office, 2635 Siskiyou Blvd., Medford; construction, remodeling and equipment for Asante's human resources office, 492 Murphy Road, Medford; construction, remodeling and equipment for Asante's child development services, 2882 State St., Medford; equipment for outpatient and administration offices in leased space in the Medical Arts Building, 691 Murphy Road, Medford; remodeling and equipment for a financial services center, 100 E. Main St., Medford; construction and equipment for a potential adult care center on 17.43 acres at East Barnett Road and Golf View Drive (the Alder Creek property); construction and equipment for a potential health care services site on the north side of East Barnett Road between 2979 and 3033 E. Barnett Road (Prime Time Retirement Apartments and Alterra Wynwood of Rogue Valley); construction and equipment for a potential health care services site on 1.69 acres on the south side of East Barnett Road with frontages on Barnett and Creekside Circle next to the Rogue Valley Inn at 2800 E. Barnett Road; construction and equipment for a potential health care services site on 1.65 acres on the south side of East Barnett Road between State Street and Murphy Road. State law requires bonded agencies to publish every possible site where the money could be spent, whether for new equipment, upgrades or remodels, said Bob Doolen, senior vice president for administration and finance. Asante Health Systems published a legal notice in today's Mail Tribune classifieds outlining where the bond money might be spent. "It will continue to add quality to the health care facilities in Medford and certainly keep Medford's patients on the cutting edge of medicine," said Richard Hensley, a board member of the city of Medford's Hospital Facilities Authority. The authority allows hospitals to borrow money in a tax-exempt bond market without putting the city at risk, said Bob Doolen, Asante's senior vice president for administration and finance. Asante plans to sell 30-year bonds to take advantage of interest rates as low as 4.3 to 5.3 percent. "The timing is driven by the bond market," Doolen said. "We might have waited another year or two to do this, but rates are so favorable right now." The expansion will take three or four years to complete, he said. Asante will spend $75 million to remodel and expand Rogue Valley Medical Center, adding 300,000 square feet to the current 485,000 square feet, Kelly said. Plans call for 136 additional private rooms, replacing some of the hospital's semi-private rooms and bringing the total beds to more than 400. The $90 million worth of bonds will also buy new equipment for Asante's facilities and will help pay down debt on Asante's new $52 million Three Rivers Community Hospital in Grants Pass, Kelly said. The money may also be spent on remodel projects at Asante's facilities on Murphy Road, Barnett, State Street or Main Street in downtown Medford. The hospital eventually hopes to build a senior care facility and other projects on 26 acres it owns on East Barnett Road. The region's largest employer, Asante has 2,505 employees in Jackson County and 745 in Josephine County. This past year, the Rogue Valley Medical staff treated 15,000 in patients and 463,000 outpatients. "Health care is a vital concern to people in Southern Oregon," Hensley said, noting a predicted increase in the region's senior population. "That would certainly increase the need for medical care," he said. Other agencies are taking advantage of the borrower's market and selling bonds. The city of Medford on Dec. 6 sold $5 million and locked in a 3.89 percent interest rate, said Larry Bryant, city finance director. The city will use the money for street projects and repay it with developer fees. The Rogue Valley Manor also plans to use the city of Medford's Hospital Facilities Authority to reissue $75 million in tax-free bonds. They will use it to refinance debt, said administrator Kevin McLoughlin. The Federal Reserve has played a role in lower short-term interest rates, but the economy determines what long-term rates will do, a Medford stockbroker said. "It's a good time to borrow money long term if you have to," said Will Reishman, a broker with Euro Pacific Capital in Medford. "Let's just hope the economy stays healthy enough to pay off the debt." Reach reporter Melissa Martin at 776-4497, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.