Elmhurst Memorial Healthcare (EMHC), which has operated a hospital in the central part of Elmhurst since 1926, is planning a state-of-the-art facility on the south side of the city.

The 325-bed facility north of Roosevelt Road and west of York Road in unincorporated DuPage County will cost about $400 million and feature all-private rooms.

“Right now it is about $400 million,” said EMHC President Leo Fronza. “We are wrestling to keep it around that number. It was about $350 million. That compared to the $120 million estimate for improving the facilities on the existing site.”

The 27-acre location will be more visible and more accessible, with more parking, than the current 11-acre site in a residential area east of downtown Elmhurst, he said.

The new integrated health care campus, which includes plans for retail space, will be the largest new development in the history of Elmhurst. EMHC is the largest employer in the city.

Details about the building layout are expected to be revealed soon, including the number of floors. The prairie-style architecture design on the exterior of EMHC’s Center for Health, adjacent to the proposed site, is expected to be retained on the exterior of the new building.

Information is also expected soon about applying for a certificate of need from the state of Illinois and going before the Elmhurst Zoning and Planning Commission (ZPC) about annexation of some of the property which is in unincorporated DuPage County. Public hearings about the application will be held by both the state and the ZPC, which will make a recommendation to the Elmhurst City Council, which has the final vote on annexation.

A project time line shows groundbreaking in late 2007, with occupancy in 2010.

EMHC has acquired an additional 27 acres adjacent to its Center for Health, a four-story, 178,000-square-foot outpatient building which was opened in 1999 and sits on 15 acres at York and Roosevelt.

One land purchase for the new site was the former location of the Celozzi Ettleson Chevrolet auto dealership, which had operated at that site for 32 years.

Mentioning a specific feature of the site plan, Fronza did indicate that a landing place for a helicopter will not be on the roof of the new hospital building.

“We are looking at a landing spot on the ground for the few times that a helicopter might be used,” he said. The current helipad across the street from the former Stevens restaurant on York Road at Lake Street was only used twice in the last year for the existing hospital, he said.

Fronza added that EMHC would not be seeking to move up to the highest level trauma center rating, which would include a helipad on the roof. Executives decided that the community did not need it and that it would be a waste of resources since it would not be used that often. He noted that Loyola Hospital in Maywood, which has a Level One trauma rating, uses well-equipped ambulances on the ground to transport EMHC patients in need of more care.

Some information has been revealed about the style of care. That plan will include a particular type of patient care called Planetree.

“Our vision for a new facility is about improved performance and teamwork—how we positively impact patients safety, patient satisfaction, and clinical outcomes,” Fronza said. “It’s about the care we provide to the patients. It’s aspiring to stellar performance, and the facility becomes the means to the end.”

The new hospital will also continue the current facility’s strong impact on DuPage County. Employment figures indicate that the organization is the eighth largest employer in the county, as well as being the largest employer in Elmhurst. On 12 sites in Elmhurst and other places in the county, EMHC has more than 550 physicians on staff in more than 200 practices and has a total of 3,200 employees.

EMHC is a not-for-profit organization, but it still is one of Elmhurst’s top property taxpayers. It pays property tax on physicians’ offices and retail space. It is ranked sixth citywide, according to the Elmhurst Audited 2006 Financial Report.

The new campus is expected to generate more taxes for the city with more property and sales tax from additional physicians’ offices and proposed retail space.

Fronza cited figures about the economic impact of such operations nationally:

• Health services, including hospitals, continue to be a growing segment of the U.S. economy. This sector represents 15 percent of the Gross Domestic Product, or approximately $1.8 trillion.
• Hospitals create a “ripple effect” through economic multipliers and support nearly one out of every ten jobs.

Hospitals in the metropolitan Chicago area:

• Employ more than 140,000 people.
• Pay employee wages, salaries and benefits that total $9 billion.
• Generate approximately $1.8 billion in new capital investments.

Plans for a new hospital in Elmhurst started in 1999 when the Center for Health opened and transformed the way EMHC provided outpatients services, Fronza said.

“When the project was complete, we began assessing how we could do the same for inpatient services,” he said. “We determined it was the time to take action because we needed to update the infrastructure of the current hospital, portions of which are 80 years old.

“We examined three options—reinvesting in the current facility, rebuilding on the current campus and building a new campus. The first two options would require significant investments in time and money and would not alleviate the space limitations we face.

“Constructing a new campus provides us with the flexibility to build a state-of-the art hospital that meets the needs of our patients, visitors, staff and physicians.”

Accordingly, new uses are being considered for the site in the center of Elmhurst. Possible offerings, which will not be determined for another year, could include:

• A Center for Health—North, which would allow EMHC to maintain its commitment to the northern service area.
• Senior citizen services.
• Physician offices.
• Immediate care center.
• Diagnostic and treatment services.

The only type of development which is not being considered for the 11-acre Berteau Avenue site is housing built by private developers.

“The idea of single-family houses or townhouses on the Berteau site has been taken off the table,” Fronza said. He explained that the only type of residential units could be assisted living units or congregate care facilities.