As Independence Township welcomes more retailers and continues to grow with housing projects, the area may open its doors to two separate medical endeavors.
The McLaren Health Care Corporation has proposed a plan to build a complex on 75 acres at Sashabaw and I-75, but nothing is approved as of yet, said Township Supervisor Dave Wagner.
McLaren is proposing a $600 million medical care village which could be constructed in three phases. The first phase would include medical offices, a cancer center, a surgery center, urgent care, a heart center and a hospital.
Dr. Tim O’Neill of the Clarkston Medical Group is involved with the McLaren project and said he hopes to open up his office in the complex by the winter of 2008.
‘I think everyone’s interest shows a need (for a hospital),? O’Neill said. The services are needed, but only from one hospital, O’Neill added.
O’Neill said medical patients will be able to get 90 percent of their care in the same campus.
‘It enables us to provide patient care and it will enable us to grow.?
Now, Beaumont Hospitals has requested an informal hearing with the township, the subject being a medical complex of its own.
Beaumont purchased land along the northwestern portion of the M-15 and I-75 interchange in two parcels, the first purchased in 2004 and the other last year. The company is currently preparing to develop that area.
The plan is expected within the next two months, said Eric Hunt, vice president of operations for Beaumont’s Ambulatory Services division.
Hunt said the plan can be completed in multiple phases. In the first stage, Hunt said the complex would have a medical office building, am ambulatory service center, a laboratory, nuclear medicine, a radiology department, an imaging center, physical and occupational therapy, a nursing home, an assisted living facility and possibly an urgent care or free-standing emergency facility.
Hunt said the complex Beaumont recently opened in Macomb Township along M-59 is similar to the company’s plans for an Independence Township location.
The Macomb location rests on 16 acres of land, encompassing 128,000-squre-feet. That facility cost $40 million according to Beaumont Hospitals; however, Hunt said figures regarding the current planned proposal are unavailable.
Hunt said the site plan will be open to the addition of a hospital, but due to state restrictions on certificates of need for hospitals, there will not be a hospital in the works at this time.
‘It might be another five to 10 years before there can be a hospital,? Hunt said.
Hunt said Beaumont would like to get started on its plans for the complex as soon as possible. He said Beaumont found through market research, a significant portion of its patients come from the Independence Township area.
‘We’re trying to bring our services closer to the customers we serve,? Hunt said.
‘It’s interesting times in a little city,? said Wagner.
‘We have to get the pulse of the community’We like to hear from as many members as we can,? he added.
Wagner said the by-products of the development will be good for the area, potentially resulting in available jobs, a boost in real estate and possibly more restaurants in the area in exchange for the increase traffic volume.
It’s a double-edged sword, we want to be a bedroom community, so it’s a fine line we walk, Wagner said.
Neil Wallace, a member of Citizens for Orderly Growth said the group has spoken amongst its members about the potential for the area to have two hospitals.
‘Clearly, our community doesn’t need a hospital,? Wallace said. ‘If we don’t need one, we certainly don’t need two.?