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Hospital news a boost for Alvin
Published November 15, 2009
ALVIN — News of a hospital coming to Alvin cured what ailed Pete Nash.
The physical therapist and Alvin Community College regent chair remembered the years he and other residents fought to bring a hospital to town.
“We beat our heads against the wall trying to get something,” said Nash, who also was administrator for the Alvin hospital that shut down in 1996. “This community needs a hospital bad.”
Nash stood in the back of Alvin City Council chambers when developers announced Wednesday they plan to build a full-service, 86,000-square-foot hospital off Highway 35, just north of FM 528.
“It’s a good deal for the community,” he said.
And the community includes more than Alvin. Officials with hospitals in Angleton, Lake Jackson and Sweeny said another hospital will mean more available healthcare and training for area nursing students.
“Any time there’s additional health care, it’s going to help the community,” said Paula Stevens, Angleton Danbury Medical Center’s associate administrator for business development.
COMMUNITY EFFECT
As the city’s economic development director, Larry Buehler, went about his day Thursday, he said residents glowed about the project.
“Absolute wonderful reaction from the community,” he said.
Alvin has been long due for a hospital because its former hospital closed in 1996, said Jami McGowan, Sweeny Community Hospital marketing director. Combined with other hospitals, it hopefully will fill a lack of available health care options in the area, she said.
“Brazoria County is very under served,” she said.
Brazosport Regional Health System President and Chief Executive Dan Buche said an Alvin hospital likely won’t have any effect on the number of patients the Lake Jackson hospital sees.
“We don’t have a lot of patients from that area,” he said. “It’s a good move for Alvin.”
First responders in neighboring communities said they are glad to see the possibility of another hospital.
Danbury EMS covers a 325-square-mile area that includes Liverpool, Demi-John and other communities that right now are far from an emergency room, said Dana McKinley, EMS director.
“There’s always excitement when you have more choices,” she said.
JOBS WON
Rowland Companies Central and RC Healthcare Properties plan to build the hospital on 93 acres, and the faith-based Christus Health will operate the facility once it is open, officials said.
A 40,000-square-foot office building also will be part of the complex. Construction for the $113 million facility could start in summer or fall 2010 and would take 14 to 18 months to complete, although final plans are not in place.
The hospital is expected to create 275 jobs initially, and over 10 years, it is expected to create 420 direct jobs and 428 indirect jobs, officials have said.
All of that employment will mean $441 million in salaries for workers over the same time frame, officials project.
MEDICAL HISTORY
“It’s the right time and the right place,” said Steve Troha, a former Alvin councilman. “I’m proud of the city of Alvin.
“I just wish it had happened sooner.”
In 2000, council formally created the Alvin Hospital 2000 committee to explore bringing a hospital to the city. It was unsuccessful.
Council organized another committee to work with St. Luke’s Hospital to build a branch facility, but it also was unsuccessful.
Brazosport Regional Health System officials also hoped to work with the Alvin community at some point to build a facility, Buche said.
“We haven’t been able to put together that deal,” he said.
HAPPY PROGNOSIS
Nash said a local hospital could provide Alvin Community College health science programs students a closer option for clinical instruction.
“They have no problems getting the training now, but they have to drive so far,” Nash said.
Students now have to drive to hospitals in Houston or Galveston for their clinical training, he said.
Registered nursing students at Brazosport College also would have another option for highly sought clinical instruction, said Susan McCormick, head of associate degree nursing at Brazosport College.
Many of the local hospitals said competition for nurses is fierce but a new local hospital likely won’t make it harder to find qualified nurses, officials said.
“We’re always competing with the Houston area,” Buche said.
EYE ON GROWTH
The Alvin hospital will be built for 28 beds, but over time, it could be expanded up to 280 beds, Buehler said.
Brazosport Regional Health System in Lake Jackson has 175 beds and Angleton Danbury Medical Center has 64 beds. Sweeny Community Hospital has 20 beds.
Projected population growth in the Alvin area likely will sustain the need for the hospital, said Robert Worley, CEO of the Economic Development Alliance for Brazoria County. Population growth also will keep other area hospitals busy, he said.
“I hope we have enough growth coming to the county to make sure they are all healthy,” he said.
The project will be an economic boon for the city because it will draw more visitors, create jobs and produce revenue, City Manager Paul Horn said.
The city will pay about $3 million to build streets, water and sewer lines to the site for the developers in lieu of a tax abatement, he said.
The developers opted for this deal because they had a hard time finding financing for the infrastructure, Buehler said. The city will not put up money for the infrastructure until developers prove financing to build the hospital is secured, he said.
Property tax revenue will pay for building infrastructure and generate an additional $8 million over 10 years, Horn said.
John Tompkins is senior reporter for The Facts. Contact him at 979-849-8581.
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