$18 million medical facility planned for Portage gets backing from City Council

"It's been real nice to see this company grow here," Mayor James Snyder said during Wednesday night's City Council meeting. "They fill a huge need."

Ground will be broken in spring 2018 on the multistory building just south of U.S. 6 along the east side of Willowcreek Road, said Chief Administrative Officer David Hall.

The building, which is slated to open in the fall of 2019, will allow North Shore to expand its services to include mammography, optometry and more dental services, he said. The new building will also house administrative offices, which are in a leased building a little further north on Willowcreek Road.

In addition to moving out of its current administration building, North Shore will sell its location on Scottsdale Street, Hall said. The teen and staff clinic will remain in place at Portage High School.

North Shore has seven locations across Porter and Lake counties.

The Portage City Council backed the project, which gives North Shore access to bonds offering a lower interest rate on the borrowed money, Hall said. Neither the city nor taxpayers are at any risk of having to repay the money.

The community will benefit, however, by the creation of more than 180 union construction jobs, he said.

North Shore assists underserved clients, including those with poor or no health insurance, Hall said. It had 156,000 visits last year and serves 15,000 patients a month.

North Shore experienced a growth of 300 percent in the number of patients served over the past decade, Hall said.