St. Joseph's/Candler partners with Raydient for 27-acre campus in Heartwood at Richmond Hill
When Chris Corr, senior vice president of Real Estate Development of Rayonier and president of Raydient, began brainstorming what amenities would be crucial for the Heartwood at Richmond Hill community to thrive, health and wellness was at the top of his list.
Monday, his vision was fulfilled.
Raydient Properties, along with St. Joseph’s/Candler, announced they will open the SJC/Heartwood Medical Campus in Heartwood to provide health and wellness services for its future residents.
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"We aspire to build a community that promotes optimal health," said Corr. "We conducted our search for the right partner. St. Joseph's/Candler put forth the Bē Health concept. Bē Health's innovative, holistic approach and commitment to Heartwood made it an easy decision."
What is in the plan?
Five buildings are included in the master plan and will be built in stages, starting with a $15 million, 15,000 square foot facility for primary and urgent care.
Crews will break ground on the 27-acre campus on Belfast Keller Road in January 2023 with a slated opening date of February 2024.
“Corr had the vision,” said President and CEO of St. Joseph's/Candler, Paul P. Hinchey.
“It’s not very common to integrate residential housing with health. You see it sometimes with employers where they use exercise equipment in the workplace. But you don’t see many alliances on the front end with residential and healthcare services. We learned through that experience we could expand health services while the homes are being built. That was Chris’s vision. The trick is to do this on the front end of the development.”
When complete, the campus will be 225,000 square feet with nearly 1,000 parking spaces, five times the size of the St. Joseph's/Candler facility in Pooler. The site will offer wellness and exercise courses, health care lectures and screenings, and more. The addition of the center adds even more appeal to Heartwood, as families will be able to live, work, play and practice healthy habits just steps from their home.
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“Part of the mission at St. Joseph’s/Candler is to not only treat illness but to promote wellness,” said Hinchey. “We proposed implementing a unique version of our Bē Health & Well-Being lifestyle initiative in the new Heartwood community, one that would be focused on impacting the health of Heartwood residents, while expanding access to other health care services for all residents in the Richmond Hill area.”
Additional buildings will be added as the community grows. Hinchey said both parties will work together to determine what future services are needed.
“What we want to know is what do 80 percent of people need most of the time?” said Hinchey. “What does most of the population use? They need to have specialists out there and there is not a lot office space for them. It will gradually morph into imaging centers and things on the more diagnostic side.”
Residents will have access to a Bē Health Navigator, an onsite health coach that will guide residents through wellness initiatives. In addition, St. Joseph's/Candler created an app for the community to register for wellness classes among other things.
What's next?
The first phase will see 35 employees with a payroll north of $1 million dollars. Corr said the campus is pivotal as it provides accessibility for healthcare needs that are out of reach for residents in other areas.
“Health is going to be one of those things that is always constant,” said Corr.
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“St. Joe’s has been operating in the region for more than 100 years. You think about retail, that’s a lot more uncommon. We all know shopping malls that were here years ago and are not here now. There are brands I shopped for years ago that are not here today. The thing that is most important is some places or cities might not have the benefit of health services centrally accessible in their communities.
"People can live or die based on things like that. That’s one of the first things we thought about. It’s gratifying as you would imagine. It’s coming to life, but we are just getting started. It’s great to see the pieces coming together. I’m excited about the future, good things that we can’t even contemplate.”
Latrice Williams is a general assignment reporter covering Bryan and Effingham County. She can be reached at lwilliams6@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: St. Joseph's/Candler announces campus for Heartwood at Richmond Hill
