A $1 million addition to house a new AthletiCare sports-medicine clinic will be built on Sacred Heart-Griffin High School's west campus as part of $8 million in other renovations being planned at school.
St. John's Hospital's AthletiCare would offer athletic-training and medical services - including on-site X-rays - to SHG athletes, as well as other health and wellness services for SHG staff members and students, hospital officials said.
The project was announced by officials from the school and St. John's on Thursday.
The unique partnership between the high school and Catholic hospital also would expose students to health-care careers through new college-credit classes and other programs being planned for SHG, St. John's president Bob Ritz said.
"This relationship is an innovative approach to aligning the mutually consistent, faith-based visions of St. John's and Sacred Heart-Griffin," Ritz said.
SHG President Sister Katherine O'Connor said the collaboration might be one of the first of its kind across the country.
"Health care is one of the leading employers in Springfield," she said. "Sacred Heart-Griffin looks forward to this partnership, (which) can continue to strengthen our city's economic development."
SHG would construct the AthletiCare building with financing help from St. John's. The school would pay off the $1 million cost with lease payments from the hospital and own the building.
St. John's investment in the site, including the lease payments, equipment and other services provided to SHG, would amount to $2.5 million over 10 years, Ritz said.
Ritz said the project fits within the hospital's mission of improving the area's quality of life by promoting good health.
Patients would receive rehabilitation and other sports medicine-related services from doctors and therapists at the new AthletiCare site. Area residents and SHG students and staff could take part in health and wellness classes through a partnership between St. John's, Prairie Heart Institute's Center for Living and FitClub, Ritz said.
St. John's would continue to operate the current AthletiCare at 3631 S. Sixth St.
The work would take about 18 months to complete, O'Connor said.
Construction of the new facility won't begin until SHG raises at least 75 percent, or $6 million, of the $8 million price tag for improvements at both SHG's west and east campuses, O'Connor said.
Almost $3 million in pledges have been made so far. O'Connor said she hopes the $6 million total can be reached this spring. The AthletiCare facility could make the project even more attractive to potential donors, she said.
Dean Olsen can be reached at 788-1543.
Improvement plans
Planned improvements at Sacred Heart-Griffin High School include a new football/soccer stadium and baseball field on the north side of SHG's west campus in the 1600 block of West Washington Street. West campus improvements also are to include a multipurpose practice court, remodeled boys' locker rooms, a locker room for female athletes and upgrades to the weight room.
Renovations at the school's east campus, in the 1200 block of West Washington, would expand the fine-arts department by including a new band/multipurpose room, new auditorium seating and flooring, and a storage area and shop for building and storing sets used in school productions.
Photo provided by Sacred Heart-Griffin and St. John's Hospital -- An artist's rendering shows the $1 million AthletiCare addition to be built at Sacred Heart-Griffin's west campus.
