Freeman breaks ground on 50-bed hospital in Southeast Kansas
FRONTENAC, Kan. — Freeman Health System broke ground Friday on a hospital being built on the north side of East 600th Avenue and the east side of U.S. Highway 69.
Freeman President and CEO Paula Baker called it a historical event for both the Joplin-based health care system and for Southeast Kansas.
'You're going to see soon, construction crews are going to begin transforming this 55-acre soybean field into Freeman's newest full-service hospital,' Baker told the crowd of about 75 people in a small gravel parking lot. 'Located just minutes from downtown Pittsburg, our new 50-bed hospital will cover 170,000 square feet. Freeman's investment in this project is conservatively $168 million. Additionally we expect the hospital to create 500 to 1,000 new jobs in the Pittsburg and Frontenac areas. That's going to be a very big boost for the economy.'
Baker said Freeman already has a 'robust presence' in Southeast Kansas.
'We already have several primary care clinics, an outpatient surgery center, a freestanding MRI, a comprehensive oncology program, a specialty clinic with over a dozen physicians represented, a physical rehab center and more,' Baker said. 'We also currently are very proud that we have clinics right here in Frontenac. All of these services have been established so that residents of Southeast Kansas have access to the medical care that they so richly deserve. I'm so excited just thinking about the new hospital and all that it will contain.'
Freeman announced plans for its Freeman Southeast Kansas Hospital in August 2023 and announced the location last summer. Since then, the city of Frontenac and engineers for the hospital have been working on getting utilities to the site and other steps needed to start construction.
'The construction process will take place over approximately 24 months in three simultaneous phases,' Baker said. 'The first phase, site development, utilities and roadways, and you see a lot of evidence of that today when you look over the field. The second phase will be construction of an ambulatory surgery center and on the second floor we'll have a medical office building for our physicians. Then the third part is construction of the main hospital structure. But keep in mind these will be done simultaneously so you'll see many things coming together at once.'
The hospital also will support the soon-to-open Freeman Fort Scott emergency room and 10-bed inpatient facility.
Baker commended Frontenac city officials including Mayor Steve Morrison and City Manager John Zafuta for their foresight in planning the utility upgrades needed to provide water, sewer and other services the hospital needs.
Morrison said the city started tearing down its historic 1908, 75,000-gallon 'Home of the Raiders' water tower on Thursday, which will be replaced by a much larger water tower to better serve the area.
'We already have the water and sewer lines out there for development,' Morrison said Friday. 'For the hospital, we'll have to bring out more water and sewer lines to facilitate the hospital but it's nothing we can't handle. The plans have been in the works for years to incorporate this area into the community. So it's well positioned to have the hospital meet with our infrastructure.'
Morrison said excitement is 'very high' among Frontenac residents.
'They're welcoming it, they're embracing it and it's a very great thing for this area of Frontenac,' he said. 'We also have a housing district that's going to be built out here and the houses will be very close to the hospital. The ability to have someone go away to school then come back home and have a job here is something we're really looking forward to.'
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