tht is a true statement,this is only good news for people with dean care insurance. everyone else is still stuck with mercy. mercy is understaffed now. how do we know some mercy staff will not go to dean and it has happened. javon bea really bit off more than he could chew. he doesnt care about patient health care, all he cares about is how fat hi wallet is. he doesnt care how overworked his staff is either, to me that is not good patient health care. how are the mercy clinic going to handle all these patients, there are going to be mistakes and bad ones and who is going to answer for this, not javon bea,i feel sorry for mercy staff and their patients, and unfortunately im one of them.

Misha: GM Salaried has not had the choice of Mercy HMO for 2 years now...the reason you ask? GM dropped Mercy like a bad habit and I was told would probably never be a choice again due to rising healthcare costs. Go figure?

Neweyes,I have moved to Janesville from a town in another state that has a similar population. There was, in fact, tremendous animosity when another national healthcare organization wanted to build their own hospital. I could not believe that adults were behaving in such a manner!

We hear all sorts of stories of bad care given, and of course it sounds dramatic because we live in this town. The same stories are heard in every town.

Do we need another hospital in Janesville? I think the money would be better spent on educating the public on healthcare issues and supporting local medical care funding.

Mercy used to be "our" community hospital. When the Sisters of Mercy left and Javon Bea took over, it became "his" hospital. The Janesville Medical Center was acquired and the emphasis was really on "ours against theirs." Over the years the animosity between the two health systems has grown, but in all rights should have never happened. Someone fostered that atmosphere by requiring that medicine be practiced on "his" terms. This kind of animosity doesn't exist between other hospitals in other cities. The climate there is exceedingly unfavorable for anyone who isn't directly part of "his" system. How many non-Mercy physicians sit on the board and make decisions? The Mercy system can expand the kingdom at their choosing, but apparently no one else can. And as for the full page ad in the Sunday paper 4/13 stating why Dean is wrong to build the hospital, do you think that will stop the project? That came across as a very unprofessional, knee-jerk response. $$ would have been better spent on patient care.

Very few people have a choice of where they can go - unless they want to pay out of pocket for expenses incurred. If you are already paying out of pocket for your insurance premiums, which are generally more than most can afford, you can't exactly choose to go somewhere "non covered" to pay the entire bill. I believe this will only benefit those that have access to covered services with Dean. Anyone who has insurance that only covers them at Mercy, will still have no other option. This is great for those with Dean, but not exactly wonderful news for all of Janesville.

I am thrilled that Rock County will finally have a hospital of quality when St. Mary's builds here. When Mr. Bea and his board took over what was once a fine health care facility, Mercy hospital became a cash cow for them. I think people deserve choices and this endeavor will provide an excellent one.

It dosn't matter if Dean/St. Mary's builds a hospital here, it will not make much difference to my family. We have Mercy for our insurance and have to go there. I Wish we could just go to any dr or hospital we choose.

The level of CARE and friendly staff at St. Marys WAY outshines either BMH or Mercy at least in the Maternity Ward.

Mercy Janesville has never lost a baby due to doctor or staff error in the history of the hospital so i dont know what the problem is why you would drive to madison.

As a resident of Beloit, and a former Mercy employee, I have to say I chose to drive to Madison to have my children at St. Marys. I am happy to have a choice instead of having to settle for whats here!

GM employees had no say when Dean Care was abruptly dropped as a health insurance option 1/1/08. Over 7,000 patients had to change physicians. Ask how it is going for them. Mercy made no attempt to collaborate with Dean Riverview Clinic. Instead, they opted to take a loss, soon to be absorbed by other Mercy patients, for the sole purpose of gaining a monopoly. By the way, supervisory employees still have Dean Care Insurance. Why do you suppose that is? Janesville is long overdue for a choice in health care.

unknown, SSM and Dean are private entities. They do not have access to your taxes.
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mark707, there is no requirement that a non-profit LOSE money. In fact they have a fiduciary duty to their membership just as a corporation does to its investors. The difference is that a corporation distributes profits to its investors, while a non-profit invests in itself. By shedding a hospital that they cannot manage well they are actually enhancing their ability to manage their other facilities.
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Obviously there are people who make money from non-profits. The employees first of all, and management, who are paid well because they cannot "participate", e.g. own stock. Then you have contractors including all of the private medical personnel at Dean who will get more business. And of course banks will make money, but that is true of any business.
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But if you don't want anyone to get that money, well, you can always ask your pharmacist for extra aspirin. You still have a choice where to go for treatment, in other words, and how you spend your own medical dollar. That hasn't changed and may even be enhanced with two hospitals.

My question is this Where will the money come from to pay for the hospitol.Watch taxes goe up.This is a bad idea an we dont need higher taxes during a ression.

Is it true that SSM is closing a hospital in the Chicago area because it is "losing money"?
Isn't a "Non-profit" (tax free) hospital supposed to be NON-PROFIT?
It seems to me that all of these N-P hospitals hide behind that title and use their gross (excessive) profits to keep expanding and making more money. A never ending circle and somebody (management?) gets the money.

When will these health wars end ? Our health care system is already financially out of reach for too many of our populace. Beloit builds a Taj Mahal facility with a spare 50 mil from their fat wallet, while many poor and middle class get sicker and die early for lack of access. Javon sees his ego threatened, and probably will throw millions at trying to outdo Dean. This is insanity ! Hospital boards are controlled by banking interests. Only they, and their country club buddies benefit from this obscene wastefullness.

Nope. Just a typo on my part. Thanks for pointing it out, Tom. It's fixed now. One parcel on the southEAST side.

Scott Angus

Scott, you state that "in 2000 Dean bought land on the city's southwest side for a possible hospital". The parcel in question is on the southeast side adjacent to I-90. Did they purchase two parcels?