Hospitals react to population changes: Four systems grow in Placer County.(California)

All four of the area's hospital systems are jockeying for market share in fast-growing Placer County.

Sutter Health is moving ahead with plans for a second medical office building at its Roseville campus.

Mercy Healthcare Sacramento will expand the sixth floor to Mercy San Juan Hospital in Carmichael, which is the system's main thrust into south Placer.

The UC Davis Health System is hunting for a third Placer County clinic to generate referrals to its giant hospital in downtown Sacramento.

And Kaiser Permanente is kicking off new programs and building a new parking lot to handle the load at its Roseville medical center.

The reason is simple: people.

Employers in South Placer County are expected to generate 100,000 jobs in the next 20 years, according to. Martin Tuttle, executive director of the Sacramento Area Council of Governments.

"That's roughly equivalent to downtown Sacramento now," Tuttle said.

Business is booming and for hospitals, it's the best kind of business -- the kind that pays well. Personal income, already higher than the statewide median, is rising faster in Placer County than the state average. And high-end jobs generally come with health insurance.

That's leading to a medical arms race as all, four systems push aggressively to offer convenient, cuffing-edge services, to a …