Future use for Herrick Hospital uncertain following new hospital announcement

ProMedica announced Thursday, Dec. 11, plans to build a new hospital in Lenawee County beginning in 2016. The 145,000- to 200,000-square-foot hospital will replace ProMedica Bixby and Herrick Hospitals.The new hospital will be located on M-52 on the site of Mission Pointe Golf Course, 5640 N. Adrian Hwy. in Adrian Township. Construction is expected to take 18-22 months, with completion tentatively scheduled for sometime in the mid-third to fourth quarter of 2017. “We’re happy it’s in the township,” said Adrian Township Supervisor James Koehn, adding that it will be “quite an addition” to the township.No information was available on how many construction jobs would be created. The facility will be a full-service hospital with up to 80 acute care beds, an emergency department, surgical capabilities that include orthopedic care, a women’s health center, a cancer center, a pain management clinic, and an inpatient psychiatric unit, according to a press release from ProMedica.Tim Jakacki, President of ProMedica Bixby and Herrick Hospitals, said the new facility will provide Lenawee County and the surrounding communities with great healthcare services for decades to come, echoing the sentiments of Kevin Webb, ProMedica Chief Acute Care Officer.“By consolidating Bixby and Herrick into one hospital, we will improve access for our patients and strengthen healthcare offerings for this community for generations to come,” said Webb.“ProMedica’s mission to improve health and well-being in the communities we serve will advance with the development of this new facility,” said Jakacki. “This dynamic new hospital will offer more efficient, effective services and enhance our ability to recruit and retain new specialists to Lenawee County and surrounding communities. It’ll give us the benefits of a more centralized access point.”The new hospital will be developed following certification standards set by the U.S. Green Building Council to ensure sustainability and offer best-in-class in design, construction and energy efficiency.Jen Sorgenfrei, ProMedica Media Relations Manager, said such sustainability and energy efficient designs could include the use of natural lighting and low-flow toilets, but added that those two avenues are not specific to the new hospital project.Currently, Jakacki said the plan is to take down 80 percent or more of Bixby Hospital and turn it into green space. Herrick Hospital will be refurbished, but what services the location will provide remain unclear. “We’re thrilled ProMedica wants to reinvest in the area,” said Tecumseh City Manager Kevin Welch.Welch said this will give the community access to “top-notch” medical services and will be used as an economic development tool for the city to attract new businesses and residents to the area. Bixby Hospital offers approximately 230,000 square feet of space with 88 state-licensed beds. Herrick Hospital is an approximately 170,000-square-foot facility with 10 psychiatric beds along with an additional 25. “Keep in mind we are a community hospital — and want to continue to be a full-service hospital,” said Jakacki. He said that with Bixby and Herrick Hospitals being just 12 miles apart, the redundancy and duplication of services was a hurdle to attracting specialty physicians. Jakacki said the centralized location “opens the door of opportunity” to attract specialty doctors and will be “better able to serve the community.”In February 2014, Jakacki said Herrick Hospital employs 260 staff members, one of Tecumseh’s largest employers, while Bixby Hospital staffs 700. On Thursday, Jakacki didn’t elaborate on whether there would be an increase or decrease in jobs at the new facility, only stating that increases or reductions in employees would be based on community need. “This is awesome for the local economy,” Jakacki added. “It’s a huge project. It’s really going to open the M-52 corridor to economic development.” “We’re excited about it here at Raisin Township because it will affect our plans for the future,” said Raisin Township Supt. Jim Palmer. “I think our residents are going to be happy that we’re going to have a centralized facility that ProMedica is going to make very comfortable and convenient for the whole county. I think it’s an exciting, wonderful announcement.”Jakacki said the new facility will need a large amount of water and sewer resources and is in talks with surrounding municipalities along with engineers about how to best secure those utilities, adding the approach would be “multifaceted.” At the December 1 Tecumseh City Council meeting, council unanimously approved a tentative agreement to consider providing sewer and water services to the new ProMedica facility on M-52. “We’re just one of the options that they have,” Welch said then. “We don’t even know if it’s a good option at this point in time.” Any final decision on an agreement between the city and ProMedica would be brought before council for approval. Welch said that the city doesn’t know if Tecumseh’s water and sewer system could handle the increased need, but would be something determined by engineers as the project moves forward. Tecumseh has a policy to not provide sewer and water services outside the city, but does so to the road commission property just south of Cal Zorn Park and sewer services to the Uniloy Milacron location on Occidental Hwy., both located in Raisin Township. Jakacki said determination of where the facility would be procuring its water and sewer services would happen sometime in early 2015. If Tecumseh was selected for one or both services, it would have to work with Raisin Township on such an agreement. “We’re a long way from that,” Welch said at the council meeting.Koehn said there have been preliminary talks about utilities, but nothing has been decided.“I think they picked a nice piece of property,” he added, saying that the approximately 120-acre property gives ProMedica room to expand in the future if need be.