Springhill Group – Mayor: Med Center Needed

MRMC requests Spring Hill facility

By TIM HODGE/ thodge@c-dh.net

Securing more medical services in Spring Hill is a top priority for a city experiencing rapid development, said Mayor Michael Dinwiddie.

Maury Regional Medical Center has applied for a certificate of need to build a $7.9-million, multi-specialty, ambulatory surgery center located at the intersection of Saturn Parkway and Port Royal Road, south of Reserve Boulevard. The facility will be managed and staffed by Vanderbilt University Medical Center, but MRMC will retain ownership of the building.

“I think one of the things that Spring Hill needs most is good quality health care,” Dinwiddie said. “We have a population of about 30,000 people, and to be honest I can easily see that number doubling in the next five years.”

MRMC applied for the certificate of need on Nov. 14 for a facility which would have the capability to perform various types of surgeries in a single building.General Motors announced Monday that it will restart vehicle production in Spring Hill plant in 2012, which Dinwiddie said he expects will lead to more population growth in the area.

“If approved, gastroenterology, orthopedics, gynocology, EMT or any type of surgical procedures that are appropriate for the outpatient setting could be done in this facility,” said MRMC Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer H. Alan Watson.

Specifics about the center will be announced once approval is given by the state, Watson said. The Tennessee Health Services and Development Agency is scheduled to review the application in February 2012.

The Spring Hill Group City Planning Commission is set to consider plans for an Emergency Room at 5:30 p.m. Dec. 5 at city hall.

Last year HCA TriStar submitted plans for a two-story, 30,000-square-foot facility off Kedron Road near Saturn Parkway. New plans for a three-story, 50,796 square-foot building have been submitted by the medical company, according to The Tennessean.

The facility would include eight treatment rooms along with CT, X-ray, ultrasound, and laboratory areas.

Springhill Group : The Roth IRA Answer To Retirement Medical Costs

Earlier this year Fidelity Investments estimated that a couple retiring today at age 65 can expect to pay $230,000 in Medicare premiums and uncovered expenses over the course of their golden years… a poisonous reality that must be met in addition to regular retirement savings.  The fact that rising health care costs also tops the biggest concerns among many retirees means finding a antidote for both saving and investing appropriately to offset the burden of future medical expenses.

To address healthcare concerns and future living costs, I often suggest that soon-to-be retirees maximize their funding of a Roth IRA and consider taking a more aggressive, long-term stance with the investments inside of it.  You are likely familiar with the popular features of the Roth IRA, including tax-deferred growth and tax-free-withdrawals, but many haven’t considered how additional features can be used to offset future medical expenses, such as the fact that there are no required distributions at age 70½ and that owners can invest in anything they want within their Roth.

To start, since there are no required distributions at age 70½, investors may take a longer-term approach on the types of investments earmarked for future medical expenses.  For instance someone aged 60 and planning to retire in five years, can be aggressive if they’re healthy and don’t anticipate needing access to the Roth funds until they are, say, 75 … an age commonly associated with at least one major medical or long-term care service need.

Thus, a 60 year-old has 15 years until the funds are likely to be required.  If it were just five years instead, there would be different considerations in the investments selected since there is less time for average returns to work in an investor’s favor.  That being said, Roth investments reserved for medical expenses that are 10 or 15 years away may be a great place to increase your overall risk tolerance, with considerations given toward growth-oriented mutual funds, ETFs, or even popular individual growth stocks like Apple, Google, or Amazon.

The math is pretty straightforward.  Take for example a 55 year-old who wants to retire at age 66.  By contributing $6,000* per year for the next 10 years, and investing it aggressively during that period of time (assuming a 10% rate of return) they will accumulate nearly $120,000.  If, after 10 years, a retiree doesn’t need to access this asset for another 10 years, even if they’ve earned a rate of return of only 6%, at the end of that period they’ll have nearly $215,000 for medical and /or long-term care needs.

As an added bonus, if you stay healthy and don’t need to use the funds, or if your number comes up before you need to access the funds, these assets may transfer income tax free to your heirs or a favorite charity.

One caveat, of course, is the fact that there are income limits for the Roth IRA.  For tax year-2011, investors begin to phase out of eligibility if they’re Adjusted Gross Income is above $169,000 for a married couple (filing jointly) or $107,000 for a single or head of households.  At the other end of the spectrum, if you’re already retired and living on a pension, dividends, or other passive income sources like rental income, you may not be eligible since you must have earned income to qualify.

If the contribution rules present an issue, two solutions come to mind:  1) Ask your employer to begin offering a Roth 401(k).  This option was actually made available as part of the Pension Protection Act of 2006 but has only lately began to show up as an available option, although for the most part only with larger employer group plans.  2) Seek out a low-cost, no surrender charge annuity to help grow assets tax deferred.  While an annuity option isn’t as ideal as a Roth (because taxes will be due on any gains at withdrawal) an aggressive investment stance plus tax-deferral over time may help reduce the overall tax burden.

Finally, funding a Roth for future medical costs can also help early retirees bridge the gap between employer-provided health insurance and the time when they become eligible for Medicare.  One of the biggest reasons people put off early retirement rests with their inability to find or afford individual health coverage.  With a healthy Roth IRA account balance, however, you can leave work at age 63½ and exercise your employer’s 18-month COBRA option to bridge the coverage gap, while ideally paying for it tax free from your Roth.

As people continue to live longer and demand quality health care, medical costs will continue to plague current and future retirees.  Pre-retirees need to deal with their future needs by taking their medicine and not only fund a Roth IRA or Roth 401(k) but to also invest it in such a way to meet those future obligations.

*Annual Roth IRA contributions are limited to $5,000 per year, per individual unless you are over the age of 50 and therefore may be eligible to contribute up to $6,000.   Other requirements may apply

Article from the springhill group

Springhill Group : Docs eager to get in on Spring Hill ER facility

SPRING HILL — Centennial Medical Center officials expect to start construction in the spring on a free-standing emergency medical facility that will be about 20,000 square feet bigger than originally planned.

Also, the roughly 50,800-square-foot building will be three stories, instead of two, to accommodate a growing number of physicians who, according to Centennial President and CEO Tom Herron, want to be part of the long-awaited project.

“There’s been even more interest than we anticipated,” he said. “That’s why we sort of stepped back and asked, ‘Is this big enough?’ We want to accommodate the need and the potential need for this in Spring Hill.”

The initial plans for the ER came to Spring Hill in June 2010, roughly nine months after a Davidson County Chancery Court ruling overturned approval of a 56-bed hospital on the same property off Kedron Road, which was given by the state Health Services Development Agency.

People such as Carl Brown of the Burwood community in rural southern Williamson County have been hoping a hospital would be built since that first HSDA approval in April 2006. The retiree said he’s still optimistic it could happen.

“I had a phone call just the other day from a friend wanting to know if they would ever consider going back and trying to get a hospital,” he said. “Personally, I wish they would try again. I think it’s needed. It may be a year or two out, but I think they’ll try again. At least I hope so.”

Herron agreed that HCA TriStar is still interested in building a hospital there.

“We would wrap the hospital around that, if we are ever approved,” he said. “We’ll start serving the city of Spring Hill first and see how those plans develop in the future.”

For now, Centennial officials are focusing on the site plan for the ER, which the Spring Hill Group Planning Commission will review in December.

Herron said they are a few months away from having the architectural plan complete. With that, and with all the required city approvals, construction could start in April or May.

The facility could open in the first quarter of 2013, Herron said. The ER would account for 10,000 square feet on the first floor. A 5,000-square-foot adjoining building will house physicians’ offices. The rest of the space will be for primary- and specialty-care doctors.