News of a soon-to-be-announced hospital development project at Coffee Creek Center, reported by the Post-Tribune in its Wednesday edition, is premature.

HSA PrimeCare of Chicago, the lead developer of the Coffee Creek Healthcare Campus, said in a statement released late Wednesday that no deal has yet been inked with any hospital partner and no decision has yet been made.

HSA did say that it has been in discussion with several “potential hospital partners,” although it did not specifically cite as one of them the Sisters of St. Francis, a Catholic health-care system based in Mishawaka which the Post-Tribune reported on Wednesday to be on the verge of announcing a $20-million hospital project at Coffee Creek Center.

“It was always our plan, working in concert with the Town of Chesterton and a number of physician advisors, to create a comprehensive healthcare campus, offering quality services, at the Coffee Creek site,” HSA President John Wilson said in his statement. “It in fact has been in the discussion phase for a period of time. Conversations are well underway with potential hospital partners as well as other ancillary healthcare services, including nursing, research, and technology. It was our goal, before making an official announcement, to ensure that the project was sufficiently far enough along in the planning process to engage the public in a dialogue. Information will be forthcoming when all key pieces are firmly in place.”

The Coffee Creek Healthcare Campus—under ongoing development by HSA and located at the extreme southern edge of Coffee Creek Center, just north of the Indiana Toll Road—is already home to the Lakeshore Bone and Joint Institute and the Lake Park Ambulatory Surgical Care Center. The Village Point Medical Office Building, a 32,000-square foot facility with a 16,000-square foot dialysis center, is scheduled to open there in the fall.

HSA controls around 119 acres at Coffee Creek Center. HSA is not affiliated with the Lake Erie Land Company nor is it affiliated with the Lake Erie Land Company’s joint development partner, Chesterton Development Partners LLC, whose principal is James Gierczyk of Gierczyk Inc. Midwest.

Community Health Systems Inc. of Franklin, Tenn., the new for-profit owner of the Porter health system, and Memorial Hospital and Health System of South Bend have both indicated their interest in building new hospitals in Porter County.

Posted 8/2/2007