Greater Bemidji has announced a partnership with the YMCA of Cass and Clay counties to build a wellness center along the rail line in Bemidji.
Less than a year later, Sanford Health, the original planned owner and operator of the center, backed out of the deal due to a tough fiscal year for the health care industry. Since then, Greater Bemidji has been searching for a new operating partner and now believes the YMCA is the best option.
“First, do they have an organization that has worked in rural areas before,” Greater Bemidji Executive Director Dave Hengel said of the criteria for choosing partners. “They have multiple facilities. I think they have one in Fergus Falls, Minnesota, and two or three in Fargo itself. They also operate 20,000 child care centers, which again is a really important need in our community.”
The original cost of the wellness center proposed for 2021, $33 million, won’t cover everything originally designed for the center, so the YMCA will have to adjust its original plans.
“The building has to look a little different than it originally did, because what you could have bought for a million dollars 18 months ago isn’t what you could buy for a million dollars today,” explains Steve Smith, president and CEO of the YMCA of Cass and Clay Counties. “And that’s really part of it. We always say that the building you see today is going to be the cheapest in history, because with inflation that number is going to keep going up. We have to take that into account.” [decisions on] As we move forward from here.”
Greater Bemidji and the YMCA are still in discussions about whether the YMCA will be the owner and operating partner of the wellness center or simply the operator, with the hope of a decision being made by the end of July.
