Rockford Sun

SwedishAmerican Hospital issued the following announcement on Aug. 22.

Construction on the 70,000-square-foot SwedishAmerican Creekside Medical Center is currently underway and today marked an important milestone – its topping out ceremony.

The celebration took place near the jobsite at 3505 North Bell School Road, adjacent to the Regional Cancer Center. SwedishAmerican leadership, physicians, Alderman Kevin Frost and Scandroli Construction President Joe Scandroli spoke and made their mark on the 25-foot long purple beam that was full of signatures and heartfelt messages signed by associates, physicians and construction workers. Cranes hoisted the steel beam, topped with an American flag, SwedishAmerican flag and an evergreen tree that signifies the building has reached its final height.

“Today marks an exciting milestone that has taken our team years of planning and months of hard work,” said SwedishAmerican President & CEO Dr. Michael Born. “We want to thank all of the construction workers who are building our new multispecialty center that will offer numerous services conveniently located under one roof from some of the most respected doctors and nurses in the area.”

Construction topping out celebrations date back to the Scandinavian culture, with the practice of placing a tree on top of a new building to symbolize growth and bring luck. Another tale believes that no man-made structure should be taller than a tree. The first evidence of trees being hoisted atop buildings was 700 A.D. in Scandinavia when such an act signaled that a completion party was about to begin.

The new facility will include:

• 465 tons of steel which is equivalent to approximately 850 million paperclips or almost ten percent of paperclips sold in the United States each year.

• 2,250 cubic yards of concrete, enough to pour a four-foot wide sidewalk nearly nine miles long, which is approximately from SwedishAmerican’s downtown hospital campus to the new facility.

“We’re honored to partner with SwedishAmerican and construct a new healthcare facility that will benefit individuals of all ages in the Rockford area,” said Scandroli Construction President Joe Scandroli. “Currently construction is on schedule and moving along as planned. We look forward to completing the project in late 2019.”

The $24 million multi-specialty clinic will offer 100 clinic rooms and 25 providers specializing in OB/GYN, pediatrics, family practice, internal medicine and endocrinology. Lab and medical imaging services will also be available on-site. Approximately 300 construction jobs along with new permanent healthcare jobs will be created.

Original source can be found here.