PELL CITY — St. Vincent’s CEO John O’Neil said the message he has received from St. Clair County has been a consistent one ever since he interviewed for his current job.

“Everyone of them, to a T, said to me, ‘Please help us build a new hospital,’” he said Friday.

As of Friday, he said St. Vincent’s, along with St. Clair County, is prepared to make good on that request.

“We’re gonna build you a new hospital,” he said, receiving applause from a packed house at the St. Clair County Courthouse in Pell City.

O’Neil’s pledge came after the St. Clair County Commission voted unanimously Friday morning to approve a new letter of intent, as part of a meeting that was recessed Tuesday at which time the commission tabled the motion to approve. The new hospital facility will be located on the campus of Jefferson State Community College near Interstate 20, and is estimated to cost more than $28 million.

The vote, which took place in front of a full house of veterans, Health Care Authority representatives, St. Vincent’s employees and representatives from Jeff State, was clearly an emotional issue.

“It’s very emotional,” said Terrell Vick, chief operating officer of St. Vincent’s St. Clair. “Something that you’ve worked on as long as we have, and to have been part of so many different organizations and finally end with a group like St. Vincent’s Health Systems.

“The time that we live in is not really good for a lot of things, but it’s perfect for where we are today. With getting into construction, we can help the economy; we’ve got the VA thing sitting on the table; Miss Judy was talking about the campus. And that’s what’s so exciting: it’s going to be unique in the state of Alabama. We are going to be unique, and that’s what’s so exciting about this.”

The approved proposal calls for St. Clair County and Pell City to contribute nearly $20 million up front, both to construct the hospital and purchase the existing one (for eventual commercial development.) The county’s Health Care Authority will contribute $10 million, all its assets, with another $1.6 million coming from St. Vincent’s (in fundraising dollars and lease money).

St. Vincent’s will owe another $16.6 million over the life of a 29-year lease, and will pay $830,000 per year for 20 of those years. The last nine years are to be payment-free. St. Vincent’s officials say the lease should be paid off by year 20. In addition, St. Vincent’s agreed to a “preferred distribution” arrangement for years 21-29, in which the hospital would share up to $100,000 per year in profits with the Health Care Authority, assuming a 5 percent profit margin.

It was not a deal that was approved lightly. Commissioner Paul Manning, one of the hospital program’s leading skeptics, said Friday the contribution of the commission and the taxpayers has resulted in an improved deal.

“I try to represent St. Clair County with dollars and cents, because I know where it comes from,” Manning said. “It comes from people like you, and I could not have got to this point if it had not been for people like you.

“I feel good with my vote today. I’ll be representing you in the years to come, as long as the people will let me. … I feel like the process has worked. I need your support in the future. I will be voting ‘yes’ today.”

Manning’s words were met with applause from the crowd. After the meeting, he said his harsh words earlier in the week were all part of negotiations.

“The process has worked,” he said. “Each taxpayer in this county, every taxpayer in this county, has called me one way or the other.

“Without the group today, I never could have arrived to the decision. It’s just a great day, and hopefully a good day for the future.”

Manning was praised after the vote. Commission Chairman Stan Batemon called him “the best businessman on this commission by far,” and Commissioner Ken Crowe said much of the criticism Manning had received in the lead up to the vote was undeserved.

“He was negotiating. He was doing what we elected him to do,” said Crowe. “Up until the last few weeks, I’ve heard everybody on this commission have a vote ‘no’ at one point in time in the process. And I think he got a lot of undue criticism.

“I think it’s a good deal. I think we got as much for our money as we can. And I’m looking forward to breaking ground.”

O’Neil and Kirk Allen, St. Vincent’s vice president of Business Development, will now take the documents to Ascension Health Care for a meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 1. With that approval, they believe the project can be near completion in 18 to 19 months. The new facility will share a campus with the new Veterans Affairs Nursing Home and a potential nursing school at Jefferson State.

“We look forward to working with all these parties to make a real difference in Pell City,” Allen said. “As John said, with the VA Nursing Home, with Jeff State and with St. Vincent’s on the same campus, and at a time when we can be putting people to work with the economy the way it is, we’re excited about the future.”

Batemon acknowledged the emotions involved in the issue after the meeting, saying the size of the crowd is a tribute to the county.

“They were there to understand that we’re doing our best, and I give that crowd credit,” he said. “That was a large number of people there. They couldn’t all get in the room, and I was very lifted up by the way they handled themselves as citizens.

“Hopefully, we set the stage for that as the County Commission. If we’d have shown the attitude up there of a bunch of people fighting, it would’ve been a lot easier for those citizens to break out fighting, also.”