LAKE FOREST, Ill. — The new Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital has been a long-time coming, and the fruits of the labors of the design and construction team are finally realized. After eight years of planning, a ceremonial ribbon cutting took place on Feb. 12, and the citizens and staff of Lake Forest could not be happier.

The new Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital will officially open on March 3. Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, based out of New Haven, Conn., and the Chicago-based Gensler health and wellness firm collaborated on the design of the replacement facility. Turner Construction, headquartered in New York, was the general contractor on the project.

The project was officially approved by the city of Lake Forest in January 2014, broke ground the same year, with excavation work beginning in February 2015. The project had a budget of almost $400 million, according to an article in The Chicago Tribune.

The new 500,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art hospital has five interconnected pavilions that will provide an integrated foundation for inpatient and ambulatory care, which includes 114 private inpatient rooms, 72 outpatient care spaces, eight operating rooms and 106 clinic examination rooms. The new facility also offers collaborative spaces for caregivers and staff, boasts a reduction in ambient noise and offers improved control over indoor lighting in patient, visitor and staff areas.

In addition, the campus includes 116 acres of open space, with more than 7,000 feet of pedestrian and bicycle paths, nearly 700 new trees and a six-acre pond to support stormwater retention and reduce area flooding.

The design team specially designed the hospital for physicians and staff to take advantage of the resources of an integrated academic health system. For example, seamless access to the Northwestern Memorial Hospital will be available to the facility, and video conferencing for staff and real time video sharing in the operating rooms are available to enhance collaboration and care for patients.

“The legacy Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital served our community well for over 75 years,” said Thomas J. McAfee, president of Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital, in a recent statement. “Our new hospital and outpatient pavilions are now state-of-the-art and complement the surrounding landscape. And, we are honored to provide the community with a leading destination for health and wellness, while offering cutting-edge technology in a comfortable, beautiful and healing environment.”

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