MINNEAPOLIS-Even long-standing, well-established urban hospitals are feeling a need to venture out into the suburbs to offer healthcare services these days. Locally, officials with the Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) feel a need to do so since learning that many suburban patients have an acute dislike for venturing into the heart of the city for medical care. In recent years, the hospital has responded by opening seven new off-campus clinics throughout Hennepin County, bringing its total to 10.

Recently, the longstanding, 422-bed public hospital began exploring the idea of occupying a proposed $53 million, 121,000 square foot outpatient facility at 10955 Wayzata Blvd., about seven miles west of downtown along the I-394 corridor in the city of Minnetonka.

The location could be a key one for attracting HCMC patients from the suburbs, as officials have learned that people living west of Highway 100, just three miles or so outside of downtown Minneapolis, are especially adverse to traveling into the city for care. The development parcel is owned by Minnetonka. MN-based Opus Development Corp., which recently received a variance from the city to allow a medical clinic at the site.

The three-story facility would be developed next to an existing office building that's part of the 14-acre Crest Ridge Corporate Center on the south side of Interstate 394 at Hopkins Crossroad. The existing building is occupied by Syngenta, a Swiss agricultural corporation. The HCMC Suburban Clinic, as it is being called, would provide specialty surgical services, including outpatient-only surgery, gastrointestinal procedures, advanced imaging procedures and surgical consultation.

As of recent weeks, officials with HCMC had cautioned in local reports that they are still three to four months away from beginning construction and only have an agreement with Opus for “preliminary project management and design services.”

John Mugford is the Editor of Healthcare Real Estate Insights™, the nation's first and only publication totally dedicated to covering news and trends in healthcare real estate development, financing and investment. For more information, please visit www.HREInsights.com.