Jefferson City Medical Group wants to expand.
The physicians' group has approached Jefferson City with a proposal to build an outpatient surgery center on Edgewood Drive - about 2 miles west of the JCMG main campus on Stadium Boulevard.
JCMG President Jeffrey Patrick told the Jefferson City Council on Monday the physician-owned group prides itself in being "part of the fabric of the community."
"National trends are that more and more things are being demanded to be done in an outpatient setting. The health insurers are demanding that, and the patients are demanding that," Patrick said, "for convenience and because of the lower costs."
JCMG has maintained an outpatient surgery facility for more than 20 years. It has owned the parcel where the new clinic would be built since acquiring a women's clinic about seven years ago, Patrick told the News Tribune on Wednesday.
"We have simply outgrown that facility," he said. "We're in a dilemma of a situation. We started discussions probably three years ago."
About a year ago, he said, the group brought some members of the City Council into the discussion.
A question is whether the group should try to remodel and expand its current 10,000-square-foot structure, which would get it to about 16,000 square feet.
"Or, do we go ahead and just bite the bullet and build a 28,000-square-foot true state-of-the-art facility that would be very modern - that would be an outstanding facility for the area and the region?" Patrick said.
Patrick's job, he said, was to get JCMG's physician shareholders to take on the risk of a $17 million financial strain.
So JCMG approached the city to ask for a tax incentive. The group would like a 75 percent tax abatement for the first five years, and 25 percent for the next five years if it chooses to build a new facility.
The benefit for the city is the group will have to recruit more physicians and staff at average salaries approaching $60,000 annually.
"We are going to have to keep more business in Cole County," Patrick said. "(For all local health care providers) our biggest place for growth is to keep cases that are going outside Cole County in Cole County."
Having a state-of-the-art facility will help with recruitment and offer opportunities for procedures that the group doesn't already perform.
"We'll have a couple of overnight beds, so we can do things like joint replacements on an outpatient basis," Patrick said.
JCMG Chief Financial Officer Keri Wright shared a presentation with the city showing architectural renderings of the new facility.
The presentation also provided a timeline for completion of the project, should it receive incentives. The timeline has been delayed somewhat.
That original timeline called for site development, design, city review processes and bidding on the project to be completed by now. It called for construction to begin this fall or in spring. The hope was that the project could be completed by spring 2022.
Patrick said Wednesday the group still hopes to begin construction early next year.
During a Tuesday evening shareholders' meeting, board members and shareholders were enthusiastic about the potential expansion. Board members could formally approve the expansion during a meeting Friday.
Receiving the tax abatement is critical to the expansion, Patrick said.
"We're optimistic that it's going to get approved," he continued.
The document shows JCMG estimates the new facility would create 15-20 new jobs, including three to five physicians, one or two mid-level providers, and 13-16 staff members (including nurses, management and office personnel).
JCMG anticipates its gross wages to increase by $3 million annually.
"The Surgery Center project brings a benefit to the community through a high-quality, low-cost venue for outpatient surgery as well as many other economic benefits to the community," the document states.
City Administrator Steve Crowell said Jefferson City is excited about the investment opportunity JCMG is providing.
"We're excited about the jobs and the investment and the property tax base," Crowell said. "Also, the opportunity to continue development along that Edgewood corridor. It certainly is beneficial from an economic point of view."