Summer 2020 Hometown Messenger

A LOOK BACK St. Francis Regional Medical Center has humble beginnings back to the late 1800s. The original hospital was a school back in 1886, located on Atwood Street between Fourth and Fifth Avenues. Benedictine nuns ran the all-girls academy until 1898. Scott County purchased the building and converted it into a house for the poor. In 1938, Franciscan sisters purchased the poor house from Scott County and renovated it into a hospital, which was called St. Francis Hospital and Home for the Aged. The building served as a hospital, nursing home and convent. In 1952, the hospital and nursing home had outgrown its space, and a new hospital was built next door. The original hospital location remained a nursing home and convent until 1982, when it was demolished to make room for the hospital’s fourth expansion. The hospital’s name was officially changed to St. Francis Regional Medical Center. Due to growth, a new, state-of-the-art regional medical center was built in July 1996 at 1455 St. Francis Ave. The campus is home to a regional hospital and more then 30 clinics and medical providers. In October 2016, a $7 million expansion provided additional clinic space, an on-site retail pharmacy, designated hospital entrance and additional parking. St. Francis recently announced a $25 million expansion to its emergency and oncology departments. St. Francis Regional Medical Center is co-owned by three health care companies: Allina Health, Park Nicollet Health Services and Essentia Health (formerly the Benedictine Health System). Hospital ownership has changed several times over the years. In 1988, the Benedictine Health System became the hospital's new owners when the Franciscan sisters transferred sponsorship to the sisters of the Benedictine Monastery of St. Scholastica located in Duluth. In 1994, a partnership was formed between the Benedictine Health System and Healthspan (now known as Allina Health). Park Nicollet Health Services soon joined the partnership and has a large on-site clinic which provides care in many specialties. St. Francis Hospital and Home of the Aged on Atwood Street. Photo courtesy Shakopee Heritage Society

St. Francis to expand emergency, cancer services St. Francis Regional Medical Center will break ground in September on a $25 million construction project to expand its emergency and oncology services. A 15,000-square-foot emergency room addition will add 14 exam rooms and a suite of up to six rooms for mental health emergencies. It will also include a drive-through garage to accommodate four ambulances. Its target completion date is June 2022. St. Francis is also updating its oncology department with a 4,200-square-foot renovation that will double its exam rooms and add more natural light to the infusion area. The project should be completed by March 2021. In May, the City Council approved issuing up to $25 million in conduit bonds to fund the expansion. Conduit bonds are a type of municipal bond sold by the city to make funds available to a private entity for a public purpose. The city is not responsible for repayments of the bonds, and the bonds will not be secured by or payable from any property or assets of the city. Permit numbers continue to rise Building has not slowed down in Shakopee based on the number of building permits issued during the first four months of 2020. The city issued 1,449 building permits in January through April—up from 1,268 in the first four months of 2019. Single family home permits continue at a brisk rate. The city has also seen an increase in home improvement permits for basement finishes, decks, bathroom and kitchen remodeling, new windows and air conditioners. Permit software to launch in July This summer, the city is set to launch a new permitting software to improve the customer experience when applying for a city permit or license.

The Shakopee license and permits ePortal allows customers to use one portal for submission, plan review, permitting and payments. The portal will be available for building permits, fire permits, business licenses and more. The software also allows all types of online payments, including credit cards and electronic checks.

Shakopee had planned to launch the software this spring, but training and launch were delayed due to the city hall closure. Watch for more information about ePortal on the city website as the launch date approaches.

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