'Facility upgrades like this are an investment into our community of caring.' 'This new pediatric facility shows Springfield Clinic's continued commitment to the central Illinois region,' Cal Thomas, chief development officer, said in the release.

For example, a news release from the clinic says the pediatrics building will create about 200 construction jobs during the project. The construction also fuels the economy through local jobs for construction workers, he said. Additionally, the purchase of materials for the $48 million in projects will generate more than $2.3 million in local and state sales taxes, Kerker said. Kerker has said Blue Cross is 'undervaluing our market to increase its own profits' in contract negotiations, while Blue Cross officials say reimbursement rates charged by the clinic are too high.įitch said the clinic's construction projects in central Illinois benefit patients and add to the property tax base, lessening the tax burden on homeowners in the long run. The dispute resulted in the clinic's doctors and other health care providers no longer remaining in Blue Cross' preferred-provider network after November 2021. Springfield Clinic's statements about the importance of preserving and improving health care in the region have been in the news in recent months during the clinic's ongoing contract dispute with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois. Newer facilities also help Springfield Clinic recruit and retain doctors and other health care professionals to central Illinois, Fitch said. 'There's not excess capacity in this market,' he said. The additional space, paired with personnel and equipment, will allow the clinic to reduce wait times for services, Fitch said.Ī growing demand for certain services is related to both medical technology that helps people live longer and to the aging of the 'baby boom' generation of people in their late 50s through mid-70s, he said.

The need for additional space is a trend fueling other construction work as the clinic adds doctors and associated providers such as nurse practitioners and physician assistants, Fitch said. The clinic hasn't decided what will happen to the Farragut Drive location. The offices that are vacated at the Wabash location will provide more space for other clinic doctors, Fitch said. Wabash Ave., and the Springfield Clinic Pediatric and Adolescent Center, 2532 Farragut Drive.

The building will consolidate pediatrician offices currently on the second floor of Springfield Clinic Wabash, 2200 W. The design of the building – which will include 60 new exam rooms, an on-site lab and pediatric urgent care area – will reduce fear and stress for the increasing number of children being treated for certain illnesses such as childhood diabetes, Fitch said. The $20 million project, to be completed in fall 2023, will create a more 'family friendly' and 'child-focused' environment for pediatric patients and their families, Fitch said. The most recently announced project is a new two-story, 40,000-square-foot, pediatrics building that will be built on a former farm field at 3500 Conifer Drive on Springfield's west side. The clinic will pay $2.8 million in real-estate taxes in 2022, $2.3 million of which represents properties in Sangamon County, clinic spokesman Zach Kerker said. The clinic is a privately held business that doesn't disclose its annual revenues, and it is one of the few major health care providers in the Springfield area that isn't tax-exempt. Springfield Clinic is a physician-led, multispecialty medical group based in Springfield with more than 650 doctors and advanced practitioners that serves more than 20 counties in central Illinois. He cited the clinic's partnerships with hospitals in Springfield, Jacksonville, Taylorville, Lincoln and Macomb to expand physician office space and outpatient services since 2000. The scope of the work involving the clinic is in line with other major projects that have taken place over the past two decades, Fitch said. The clinic's pace of construction – which includes a new $20 million pediatric center, a new $17 million medical laboratory and an $11 million, four-story addition to the main campus on South Sixth Street – hasn't slowed during the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.

Reeder construction