Ten years ago the ground surrounding Eagle Road and Interstate 84 was still farmland and open space.

Today it's home to the 58-acre St. Luke's Meridian Medical Center, scores of health care-related companies and professionals seeking to be near the hospital, and a new Idaho State-Meridian Health Science Center that offers 35 health care-related degrees.

Dubbed "The Core," the 6-square-mile, 1,800-acre economic growth corridor in Meridian has both medical and education experts predicting that it will become one of the largest clusters of health care, technology and industry-related companies in the area.

Unlike other heavily promoted economic development areas that amount to little more than undeveloped ground, The Core already offers more than most people realize, said Phil Stiffler, whose company, Virtus Enterprises, handles Meridian's economic development marketing efforts.

"We can market The Core on its existing strengths: the hospital, ISU-Meridian, infrastructure like water, sewer and telecommunications that are already in the ground, available office space, affordable housing and good schools in the area," Stiffler said. "These are advantages that have not been pushed enough. Considering the economic times, companies in California should be asking themselves, 'Why Idaho?' They should be looking to relocate to a fiscally responsible state."

Don Holley, professor of economics at Boise State University, said The Core appears to have everything the health care industry needs already in place, including the infrastructure, office space and the hospital, which means supporters can legitimately say they have "a leg up" on other areas being touted as economic development magnets.

"Now what they (promoters of The Core) are betting on is that demand will there," Holley said. "Well, if health care reform goes through and everybody has health insurance, there is going to be a huge increase in demand for medical services."

BUILDING CLUSTERS

Straddling some three miles of I-84, The Core is bordered by Meridian city limits on the east, Meridian Road to the west, Fairview Avenue to the north and beyond Overland Road to the south.

The concept has been a longtime project of Mayor Tammy de Weerd.

She was out of town and could not be reached for this story, but De Weerd used her State of the City address earlier this year to say that the St. Luke's campus and new ISU health center would attract health care-related companies to "support our existing industries by bringing together like-minded or complementary companies.

"Industry clusters build critical mass, giving businesses more resources and workers more choices in employment," De Weerd said.

St. Luke's Meridian Chief Operating Officer Pam Bernard said the hospital will serve as a training ground for ISU-Meridian students who are required to do clinical tours where they perform the same procedures on patients "they have been practicing in class on mannequins."

"I think that everything that will sprout up from the combination of health care and education is going to be interesting to watch," she said.

Bernard said the hospital has been spurring economic development for years, including:

• The Touchmark at Meadow Lake Retirement Village, which was built east of St. Luke's for easy access to the hospital.

• Gardner Ahlquist Development's construction of the Portico East and Portico West Medical Office Buildings, two 80,000-square-foot structures where 125,000 square feet of office space has been sold or leased since January.

The developer also has seen some interest from the medical profession since it resumed construction of the six-story Portico Office Tower at the intersection of Eagle and Franklin roads, said Sherry Schoen, company director of leasing and marketing.

A specialized medical outfit is negotiating for 12,000 square feet of ground-floor space that would include a separate entrance, while a technology company is in talks to lease two floors, or 44,000 square feet, in the new building, she added.

'EDS AND MEDS'

Stiffler said new heath care-related companies are arriving in Meridian all the time.

"You've had 42 new health science and technology businesses opening in The Core in the last three years," he said.

Even before it was known as The Core, a group of Boise-based urologists merged their five private practices in 2006 to create the Idaho Urology Institute, which provides surgery, imaging, radiation therapy, clinical research, laboratory and male fertility services.

The group was persuaded to move to Meridian by consultants who called it "the center of the Valley," recalls Dr. Joe Williams, a partner in the institute.

"It already made sense back then because you already had the hospital, the city and investors behind it," Williams said. "Now, ISU is just the final keystone. We're going to have a lot of well-trained people here."

Among the more recent arrivals is the Complex Care Hospital of Idaho, a $30 million, 62,000-square-foot, 60-bed, acute-care facility that opened at 2131 S. Bonito Way a year and half ago to care for patients who require long-term care. It has more than 90 consulting physicians on staff, most with offices in the area.

"This location was ideal," said hospital Chief Executive Officer Mike Fenello. "There is the proximity to the hospital, ISU-Meridian, and the proximity to I-84 means we have easy access to Meridian, Eagle, Boise and the West Valley, as well."

PKG Inc., which designs, develops and manufactures keyboards and touchscreen control panels for medical equipment, moved from Boise to Meridian in 1996. Chief Operating Officer Bill Canon says the company is growing and already looking to the day when it will need more people and space.

ISU-Meridian promises a steady stream of qualified employees, while the area continues to see an increasing amount of office space.

Robin Dodson, director of pharmacy student services at ISU-Meridian, where some 70 students are working on four-year professional programs to earn their doctor of pharmacy degrees, says each of the school's 35 programs will attract its share of newcomers to the area.

The pharmacy program alone will bring software developers with new methods of tracking inventory, and manufacturers who will want to work with the school to develop equipment for mass production, packaging and shipping, he said.

"The hospital and the school are like the anchor tenants in a mall," Dodson said. "We call them 'eds and meds.' Education and medicine. That's going to be the economic engine that drives The Core."

Joe Estrella: 377-6465