Representatives of Swedish Medical Center and the city of Seattle broke ground on Swedish's new medical office building Sept. 16.

The five-story building will be 90,000 square feet of physician offices, an emergency department, an expanding imaging center and primary care clinics.

During the groundbreaking, Jennifer Graves, nurse executive at Swedish, congratulated those behind the project on their vision for Swedish.

"Ballard was a diamond in the rough," she said. "It only needed to be pulled out of the ground and polished a little bit."

Dr. Rod Hochman, Swedish's chief executive officer, said healthcare should be a commitment to the community. The construction of the new medical office building is only the start of building an exciting and dynamic campus to serve the Ballard community, he said.

"In my two-and-a-half years at Swedish, I have to say, this is one of my favorite days," Hochman said.

City council member Sally Clark told those gathered for the event that many people around the city are excited to see the Swedish groundbreaking and the jobs it will create because there have been few large projects started this year.

Clark joked the groundbreaking is slightly troubling to her because such a state-of-the-art facility in the neighborhood could once again encourage Ballard to secede from Seattle.

The new medical offices are slated to open in fall 2010 next to the Medical Plaza Building on Tallman Avenue.