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Spears family gives Asante $2 million By DAVID PRESZLER A longtime Grants Pass family helped give a good start Sunday to Asante Health System's fund-raising drive to build the new Three Rivers Community Hospital. The Spears family, which has run Caveman Lumber for many years, pledged a $2 million challenge gift toward the construction of the 86-bed hospital. Alvin Spears, an Asante board member, announced the gift at Sunday night's ceremonial ground breaking. The project, scheduled to be completed in January 2001, will cost $44 million, and Asante Health Systems is seeking to raise $4 million from the community. The rest of the project will be financed through borrowing from tax-exempt bonds and income from operations. The $2 million challenge gift will account for half of the money needed from the community -- assuming the other $2 million can be raised. "The gift that Alvin and the Spears family made is about as generous a gift as possible," said Paul Janke, Asante's chief operations officer. "We think there's such a strong belief in what this hospital will mean to the community that the support is going to be there." Alvin Spears has been on the Asante board since its inception two years ago and before that served on the Josephine Memorial Hospital board. The $2 million donation is to be made from the Kerns A. Spears Family Trust. "It's wonderful," said Asante spokeswoman Leslie deSchweinitz. "They are so committed to this community. We're just really pleased that they would make this gesture." The new hospital is to be built on a 44-acre site along Williams Highway near the intersection with Meridian Avenue. The hospital will have full surgery, radiology and emergency facilities and obstetric services. It will also have a free-standing cancer center with infusion and radiation therapy. Currently, Three Rivers Hospital has two campuses, one on Dimmick Street and one on Washington Boulevard. Asante owns the Washington campus hospital, and leases the Dimmick campus hospital from Josephine County. The new hospital will replace the Dimmick campus, but Asante has not determined what will be done with the Washington campus. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA