Saturday, February 04, 2006

Mysterious Stadter Center construction explained...or is it?

There is a very interesting article in today's Herald. Apparently, the new construction currently going on near the Stadter Center doesn't include a new hospital. The large, 2-story building that is going up is an "office park" that will be leased to doctors and other businesses. With a pharmacy, lab, gift shop, and even a restaurant(?), it sounds to me like an attempt to start a major new clinic to compete with Altru.

However, don't write off a new hospital just because it isn't being built right now. Apparently, the Stadter Center owns a lot of land around the existing facilities and there are plans for ongoing development...plans that the center's vice president of operations, Cynthia Tredwell, refuses to comment on. If there weren't some major plans for something like a new hospital, why would future construction be such a hushed matter? They obviously have something planned that they are trying to keep hidden. With $20 million dollars of current expansion going on and a lot more planned, it seems to me like this medical campus could keep expanding until it reaches a point where constructing a new hospital would be the only conceivable option. I still think it is a matter of time until Altru has a major new competitor.

5 comments:

GrandForksGuy said...

I'm not aware of much more regarding these projects than what the Herald published. The whole thing is being kept so secretive. I do know that the days of the old batting cage by the complex are limited. The next wave of additions will be right where the batting cage is now.

Some readers might find it interesting that a drive-in movie theater used to be located near this current development. I remember when my family lived in the Richfield Apartments (which are now located right behind Hugo's on 32nd Avenue South) back in the 1980s and we could look out of our window and see movies playing on the screen. This was before Hugo's was built so you could actually look out of our 3rd story window and watch the movie...although, the screen looked very small from over 1/2 mile away!

Anonymous said...

Today I got a phone call from someone taking a survy on health care in Grand Forks and many of the questions involved "if a new clinic or hospital were located on the south end of Grand Forks would you go there?"

GrandForksGuy said...

Anonymous...that is very interesting! Did the caller say who or what company they were representing?

Anonymous said...

What has anyone heard about the complaints and numerous allegations filed against the Stadter Center?

Anonymous said...

The only people I've heard complain about stadter center are disgruntled ex-employees who harbor resentment against their former employer. Also it seems like Altru has its hands in WDAZ and the Grand Forks Herald, both of which give them great press and focus on the negative aspects of the building going on at the Stadter Center/Aurora area.

On the other hand, think about how many complaints you've heard from actual patients who have had MAJORLY bad medical care at altru's hospital and clinics.

Every hospital/clinic gets bad reviews from some people, but in the end it's the quality of care that counts. If I needed psychiatric care (or medical care for that matter) no way would I go to altru. I guess we have to wait and see the quality of care people get at Aurora and stadter center.