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).

The post New Center for Advanced Care Opens in Chicago appeared first on HCO News.

The new Genesis Medical Center (GMC) – Davenport at the East Rusholme Street campus broke ground in late June and is one of the largest financial investments ever made in the history of the Quad Cities, a group of five cities surrounding the Mississippi River on the Iowa-Illinois border.

Planned and designed by Madison, Wis.-based Flad Architects, the new seven-story tower, which consists of 203,000 square feet of new construction and 115,000 square feet of renovation, will enable the center to expand its scope of technology and will boost its level of care to meet the changing needs of patients.

In addition to an expanded trauma center, the tower, which will be located between the existing hospital and parking, will be renovated to include private prep/recovery rooms, operating room support spaces, a new procedure suite and a short-stay bed nursing unit on the second and first floors. It will also include a new cafeteria, dining area, chapel and administrative/ancillary offices.

The tower also makes room for outpatient services, sterile processing, 12 new state-of-the-art operating rooms, an expanded PACU, 32 orthopedic surgery beds on the fifth floor, a 32-bed acute care medical nursing unit on the sixth floor, future shell space for an additional 32 beds on the seventh floor and a helistop on the roof.

“The project positions Genesis for technological advances and the changing needs and expectations of patients,” said Doug Cropper, Genesis Health System’s president and CEO, in a statement. “The 12 surgical suites will accommodate more sophisticated equipment and thus, more advanced procedures. That allows a higher level of care to be available here.”

Consolidating surgical services in the new location will address some issues with patient care and privacy. Patients will no longer have to be transported along public corridors or between campuses. The change also improves productivity by reducing the amount of travel between the East Rusholme Street and West Central Park campuses. The operating suites will also accommodate more sophisticated equipment to perform more advanced procedures and will attract new surgeons and other care providers to the area, Cropper said.

Another goal of the project is to create a highly efficient focal point for all short-term acute care on the GMC – Davenport East Rusholme Street campus while creating expanded space on the West Central Park campus for longer-term acute care patient care.

Estes-Dunn, a joint venture, is the construction manager; KJWW Engineering of Rock Island is the engineering firm; and Conceptual Designs Inc., Bettendorf, is assisting with interior design. The project will be an IMPACT project, providing jobs for hundreds of local skilled workers the next four years.

“We know the significance of a project of this scale for Genesis and our patients and community, but we also are excited about what the project will mean to the economy of the Quad Cities,” Cropper said. “The benefits of this project will ripple through the economy, creating good jobs and stimulating the economy further as workers employed by this project buy houses, cars and necessary goods from local businesses.”

The post Genesis Health System Breaks Ground on Modernization Project appeared first on HCO News.