The new building, attached to the main hospital, allows Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center to expand and centralize three medical specialties — cancer care, digestive health and outpatient surgery — in a single, integrated facility. The goal of the new center is to improve access to care, continuity among disciplines, enhanced operational efficiencies and a better overall experience for patients and their families. More than 20,000 patients are expected to be cared for in the building annually.

The Angelo P. Creticos Cancer Center, formerly situated in a building located at the southwest corner of Wellington and Mildred in Chicago, has been relocated to the north end of the Center for Advanced Care. The cancer center now has two new linear accelerators for targeted cancer treatment, 16 infusion bays and an educational resource area

The building provides seven times the medical center’s previous space dedicated for digestive health. Located on the south end, the Digestive Health Clinic features five new procedure rooms.

The Center for Advanced Care’s expanded outpatient surgery facilities, housed on the third floor over 38,000 square feet, have added six operating rooms and 18 prep and recovery rooms. Other amenities at the facility include a health resource library, conference facilities and a café.

The addition creates an integrated platform where patients and physicians can more easily access care resources, including a multi-disciplinary condominium clinic with flexible, universal exam and consult spaces.

“One of the goals of the project was to demystify the patient experience by creating a physical space that is warm, open and inviting,” said Tim Tracey, principal-in-charge at SmithGroupJJR’s Chicago office, in a statement. “The design of the new center represents the quality of care that patients receive at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center.”

Signature design elements for the Center for Advanced Care include a sweeping, curved glass façade on the south side with an integral passive sunshade system. Public corridors are outfitted with open seating and waiting areas, creating a way-finding system that connects the new building with the main hospital. At street level, a three-story glass atrium lobby and reception area help to set off the facility’s main entrance.

Sustainable design features include a living wall that will bloom year-round as part of a community garden, located in a 21,000-square-foot park that runs along the back of the building. The park provides pathways and outdoor benches for patients and visitors. Also sustainably designed is the building’s roof. The facility is targeting LEED-NC Silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

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“Going to a hospital is not a fun thing. Patients are going there for a reason or purpose that is often scary, and we wanted the building to reinforce an optimistic view so those tensions and anxieties could be relieved,” said Tim Tracey, AIA, design principal for SmithGroupJJR, the Chicago-based design architect on the project.

The design and construction team – which also includes Rock Island-based KJWW Engineering, Chicago-based Thornton Tomasetti and New York-headquartered Turner Construction – broke ground on Feb. 12, and it is slated for completion in early 2015.

The 156,000-square-foot facility will connect with the current medical center and will house three major programs: the digestive health program, Angelo P. Creticos Cancer Center and outpatient surgery. It will feature six outpatient operating rooms with video integration capabilities, 18 prep and recovery rooms, two linear accelerators, 16 infusion bays and a teaching area. Hopefully, people will start to take their digestive health more seriously and take the time to look for ways to help improve the condition of their gut and so on. Maybe take a look at these multi gi 5 reviews and see whether they’ll bring the health benefits that you’re after.

The cancer center currently resides at the southwest corner of the medical center. It will be relocated in the Center for Advanced Care and will make up the garden level and north end of the facility’s first floor. The south end of that same floor will house the digestive health clinic, as well as a pre-surgery waiting area, a health resource center, conference facilities and a caf. The third floor will feature an ambulatory surgery suite, which will connect to the existing hospital.

“They are a hospital that’s delivering wonderful care, while limping along with facilities that haven’t supported their growth for some time. This new building offers them an opportunity to really expand some of their core programs. The digestive health program, for example, is going to increase sevenfold,” Tracey said. “This also gives them the opportunity to grow their model over time, which is something they’ve been limited to.” Digestive health is something that the population should take seriously as it affects everyone, this is why using gundry md supplements alongside healthcare support within this new building, will be highly beneficial.

Located in Chicago’s Lakeview community, the building was designed to represent the residential community by incorporating softer elements into the northern edge of the building site, the part closest to the neighborhood. SmithGroupJJR did this by including a community garden to use as a buffer between the massive building and the surrounding residential buildings. They also created a green wall that became a “vertical interpretation of the green park,” Tracey said. “The third thing we did was try to find materials and proportions that were sympathetic to the residential buildings by making it a masonry brick building with punched windows.”

The building is being built with the goal of achieving LEED Silver certification. Apart from the green wall, 50 percent of the roof will incorporate a green roof system – plus, the use of natural light will release the amount of electricity used during the day.

Perhaps the biggest challenge that Tracey faced on designing the project is creating connectivity between the new building and the existing one. “We were able to capture the spirit of the hospital in this building and were able to enhance the value of the existing building, enhance the value of the entire enterprise. To have a building that’s representational of that quality of care is what I’m most proud of,” he said.

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