In Pell City, Mayor Bill Hereford and the City Council are willing to take a chance on backing a new hospital in their community. And their vision could set a forward path for where Pell City heads from here.
St. Vincent’s St. Clair Hospital needs to become a new facility, acting as a catalyst for growth and operating as a boon to health care in the region. The old and aging hospital the county has now is not keeping pace with the growth of Alabama’s fastest growing county. And the need for change is obvious.
Leaders have envisioned a development north of Interstate 20 near the Jefferson State Community College campus that would include the new hospital, a state Veterans Nursing Home and an expansion of the college’s nursing program.
That vision is a sound one, but it requires more than verbal support. That’s why the mayor and council are stepping up their support in the form of $3 million over the next 20 years to help subsidize the new hospital, which is predicted to operate at an annual deficit for its first 20 years.
In exchange, the city gets half ownership in the present structure along with St. Clair County at one half, and the projects planned now will be able to move ahead toward creation of 300 jobs.
This is not an easy decision for the mayor and council to make, obligating their administration and future administrations to that kind of financial commitment. But they were not elected to do the easy thing, they were elected to make the tough decisions that move the community forward.
This plan has merit. And we hope that citizens see the value in taking this challenge and turning it into an opportunity, just like the recruitment of Honda, Bass Pro Shops and the Grand River Project.
They have the ability and potential to change the face of this region for the better. But leaders have to be willing to take the chance.
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