Janesville, WI – SSM Health Care of Wisconsin announced today that planning continues for the St. Mary’s Janesville Hospital, but that the completion date for the project has been extended.

“We remain fully committed to build St. Mary’s Janesville Hospital. However, we find ourselves in an unprecedented economic time, that is affecting new construction in all sectors, including hospital projects across the country,” said Mary Starmann-Harrison, President, SSM Health Care of Wisconsin. “We are working with our partner, Dean Health System, and are hopeful that the economy will improve in the near future, so we can begin construction. The St. Mary’s Janesville Hospital remains the top priority for SSM Health Care. SSM and Dean Health System continue to be committed to exceptional patient care for the Janesville community.”

“We’ve made tremendous progress since announcing we will build a new hospital in Janesville, including the completion of the site plan, the design for the facility and the hiring of a president. Kerry Swanson, president of St. Mary’s Janesville Hospital, will continue to oversee the planning for the new hospital,” said Starmann-Harrison.

Swanson joins St. Mary’s Janesville Hospital from Alliance Community Hospital, in Alliance, Ohio, where she oversaw the building of a new hospital.

“This is a great opportunity for me to be involved with this new hospital right from the start,” said Swanson. “The community is enthusiastic about the hospital and the Dean Clinic Janesville physicians’ commitment to this project has been tremendous. I look forward to continuing our work to design and build our hospital to meet the community’s need.”

“We are very fortunate to have an extraordinary group of physicians with whom we’re working,” said Starmann-Harrison.

Craig Samitt, M.D. and CEO of Dean Health System said, “The need for a new hospital and medical complex in Janesville remains as strong as ever. We will continue to finalize our plans and meet with the community and will be poised to aggressively begin construction once the economy becomes more favorable.”

Dean Health System is a multi-physician specialty health care delivery system based in Madison, serving south-central Wisconsin. The Dean organization and the St. Mary’s Dean Venture physicians, includes approximately 500 physicians providing primary, specialty and tertiary care at almost 60 locations throughout southern Wisconsin, including the Riverview, Northview, Milton and Delavan Clinics.

SSM Health Care of Wisconsin (SSMHC/WI) owns and operates two hospitals and two nursing homes in Wisconsin. In addition to St. Mary’s Hospital (Madison) and St. Clare Hospital (Baraboo) and their nursing homes, SSMHC/WI affiliated hospitals include Columbus Community Hospital, Stoughton Hospital, Boscobel Area Health Care and Upland Hills Health (Dodgeville). SSMHC/WI is part of St. Louis-based SSM Health Care, the nation’s first health care organization awarded the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.