North Street re-opening a major milestone for hospital project

By Mark Wiener 8:32 PM Wednesday, June 29, 2011

When the white Hyundai drove past the new hospital construction site on North Street at 3:19 p.m. June 20, it quietly marked one of the major milestones in the 2½ years of the project.

That vehicle was the first to drive along the road that was re-routed to accommodate the new Springfield Regional Medical Center. Why was that moment significant and who made it happen?

Obviously the completion of that project ended an inconvenience for visitors to the Springfield Regional Cancer Center and other North Street commuters who temporarily had to find a different route. To everyone’s credit, people seemed to understand the positive purpose of the project.

But the impact of completing North Street extended well beyond commuter satisfaction.

The city of Springfield carried overall responsibility for the re-routing project. When their effort started, it was uncertain whether it could be completed when the hospital construction team requested. However, City Manager Jim Bodenmiller and his leadership team understood that the hospital construction team needed proper access to the front of the property to work on the front entrance and visitor parking. Nobody wanted to delay the opening of the state-of-the art facility or risk an opening without access to the front entrance of the new hospital.

City staff worked closely with the contractor, Demmy Sand and Gravel, to push this project through. As a result, all of us can look forward to the major milestone on Nov. 13 — an appropriate opening of the new hospital that will serve this community for decades to come.

Jim Bodenmiller and his staff should be commended for making the timely completion of North Street a reality. Too often in our society it’s easy for people to take potshots at government leaders at all levels. Yet seldom a good word is heard when these leaders take all the right steps to get things done.

In this case, our hats are off to the city.

Mark S. Wiener is president and CEO of Community Mercy Health Partners.

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