Mayors hailing from all over St. Clair County, county commissioners, hospital board officials, health care authority board members, nurses, doctors, economic development officials and a host of community members came together to witness history in the making.
On the 165 acres overlooking Interstate 20, a new hospital has found a home. It’s next to Jefferson State Community College, where hopes of an expanded nursing school program are abundant.
And soon to be located nearby is a state Veterans Administration nursing home.
They make good neighbors. They make even better economic partners.
Commission Chairman Stan Batemon called it a place to teach and to heal, and that it will be. But it also will be the catalyst for a new direction for the region, one that holds great hope for the future.
New jobs, new facilities, expanded educational programs, enhanced health care — they all translate into an economic shot in the arm for a region that could use it right now.
The planning for this vision began a decade ago and despite the bumps and bruises along the way, officials stayed the course these many years
They were wise to persevere. And the impact of that vision rising in the months to come from the ceremonial dirt that was turned Tuesday should prove it was indeed the right thing to do.
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