Sacred Heart Medical Center has bought a former nursing home located near the medical centers complex, but hasnt decided yet how it will use the property.


Sacred Heart acquired the former Southcrest Subacute and Specialty Care Center property, at 110 W. Cliff Drive, for $2 million, says Sacred Heart spokeswoman Marilyn Thordarson. The purchase included the 68,000-square-foot, four-story building that had housed the nursing home, as well as some surrounding land, Thordarson says.


Southcrest closed late last year, forcing the relocation of 80 residents. Extendicare Homes Inc., which had owned Southcrest, blamed the closure on federal reimbursement program changes that it said had made the 30-year-old nursing home unprofitable.


Sacred Heart bought the Southcrest property, located about a block to the south of the medical center campus, because its close by and adjoins other properties that Sacred Heart owns, Thordarson says.


We are sensitive to the fact that it also borders on a residential area, and we would want to ensure that (whatever use is proposed for the property) is compatible with the neighborhood, she says.


Thordarson says one potential occupant for the former Southcrest building is Pathology Associates Medical Laboratories Inc. (PAML), the regional medical laboratory that performs test on all types of bodily fluids, including blood, serum, spinal fluid, and urine.


PAML is operated by Bourget Health Services Inc., a for-profit subsidiary of Sacred Heart. PAML currently occupies a 40,000-square-foot lab here at 11604 E. Indiana, but has been reported in recent months to be looking at moving to a larger space.


Moving PAML close to Sacred Heart would make sense logistically because PAML works closely with Sacred Hearts lab. PAML handles routine tests that can be performed quickly and in high volume, while Sacred Hearts lab performs specialty tests.


Thomas Tiffany, PAMLs CEO and general manager, said in interview with the Journal last fall that because of PAMLs relationship with Sacred Heart, it has been able to offer a wider range of tests than most labs of similar size.