By RICK A. RICHARDS
Indiana Correspondent

RENSSELAER, Ind. — A major upgrade for Jasper County Hospital was unveiled Wednesday, May 17, when ground was broken for a 26,750-square-foot addition that will add four operating rooms, an MRI center, and expand outpatient facilities, as well as other services.

The project was made possible through a $15 million U.S. Department of Agriculture Community Facilities loan, said Philip G. Lehmkuhler, state director of the USDA. He said the money is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act announced by President Barack Obama last year.

The loan, he said, also is the largest USDA has awarded to an Indiana hospital.

“The Recovery Act funds awarded to Jasper County Hospital further demonstrate the Obama Administration’s unyielding efforts to improve the quality of life for rural residents by ensuring that rural communities benefit from quality public facilities such as hospitals, courthouses and health centers,” said Lehmkuhler.

During the groundbreaking ceremony that was attended by hospital staff, Rensselaer, Jasper County, USDA, and other government officials and guests, hospital board Chairman Bruce Wood summed up the event simply: “This is a big day for us.”

Kendall Culp, president of the Jasper County Commissioners, said the project will have a ripple effect throughout the county. “When industry looks at the community, health care is one of the big issues they consider when they move. This project is a big factor in helping Jasper County attract new economic development.”

The three-story, 93,350-square foot Jasper County Hospital opened in 1965. Hospital CEO Timothy Schreeg said surgical procedures continue to be done in operating rooms built nearly 50 years ago.
He said that in 2002, the hospital hired the architectural firm of Hoch Associates, of Fort Wayne to create a facilities plan.

In 2006, that plan was presented to hospital executives, and Schreeg said that’s when the search began to find funding for the improvements.

Architect Jim Hoch said, “I want to congratulate the hospital, commissioners, and trustees for this wonderful facility. This has been very much a collaborative effort. Over the next couple of years you’ll see quite a transformation of the facilities here.”
In addition to the two-story, 26,750-squre-foot addition, the project also includes renovation of 9,000 square feet of the existing hospital and construction of a 7,400-square-foot office building, which was completed last year with money the hospital had already set aside.

The hospital is Jasper County’s second largest employer with 500 people on staff. The payroll was more than $16.5 million last year, said Schreeg; and the hospital buys more than $1.5 million in goods and services in a four-county area.

“And the hospital has never received tax revenue from the county for daily operations,” said Schreeg, adding that Jasper County’s involvement in the project was to approve a tax guarantee should the hospital default on the loan.

“We knew this would be a complicated project,” said Schreeg.
But with the funding in place, Schreeg is looking to the future and is already hearing from surgeons who would like to join the hospital staff because of the addition.

“They want to get their foot in the door now,” said Schreeg who noted the project isn’t expected to be completed until late summer or early fall of next year.

“We needed USDA funds to do this. Without USDA, the project would be half what it is, and if that was the case, we would have to ask if it would be worth it. Without USDA, I know we wouldn’t have been able to do the project we’re doing today. They’ve been very, very good to work with.”

Lehmkuhler said the USDA’s Community Facilities Program has been around for awhile, but the agency is putting a new emphasis on rural development now.

“Around Indiana, it’s hard to find a hospital close by in rural areas,” said Lehmkuhler. “That’s why we’re looking to do more activity in rural areas.”

Culp agreed that USDA funding is what made the project possible. “The hospital came to county government previously to get some dollars, but there weren’t any for a project like this.

“When stimulus money came available, what the county had to do was provide a tax guarantee should the hospital default,” said Culp. “We don’t think that’s going to happen.”

Besides improved health care, Culp said the economic development the project will bring to Jasper County is immeasurable. “If our residents had to go to a nearby urban area for a procedure, they would have to go to Lafayette or Valparaiso.” Both are about an hour’s drive away.

“The hospital provides great benefit to our citizens,” said Culp. “It was built in the late 1960s so the people who have paid all their lives for it, now want to use it now that they’re getting older. That’s one reason I was a big supporter of the project.”