In an attempt to keep pace with the area’s unprecedented growth, Edward Hospital has planned a $100 million renovation of its Naperville campus that will take place over the next five years.

The “makeover” will include 124,000 square-feet of new construction and 76,000 square-feet of renovations. When the projects are complete they will add more than 30 licensed beds to the current 288.

If Edward eventually earns approval from the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board for its proposed hospital in Plainfield, hospital officials estimate that the health care facility will invest more than $500 million into the region from 2007-12.

This would constitute a significant increase in area health care investment for the hospital. The past five years the hospital has spent $350 million on health care improvements, said Brian Davis, vice president of marketing.

“Since 1991 Edward has added more than 100 inpatient beds, 10 operating rooms and 29 emergency treatment rooms, but that still has not been enough to keep up with the area demand,” said Mary Lou Mastro, vice president, facilities and construction.

The Naperville renovation has not been approved yet, but hospital officials will present the plans to the state Planning Board and the city of Naperville in the near future.

As population centers have expanded further south and west, Edward’s patient base has grown exponentially in the past 15 years. In 1990 the hospital had a service area that covered 651,860 people. By 2011 it is predicted that the hospital’s service area will cover 996,907.

Obstetrics is an area that has seen increased growth and will be a focal point of the Naperville campus renovation. Physicians at the hospital delivered 3,088 babies in 2000 and it is projected that number will increase to 4,250 by 2011.

“We have seen tremendous growth each year and we have doubled the size of our clinic,” said Don Taylor, DO, medical director, perinatology. “The Plainfield area is booming and many of our patients are from there.”

Official stated that half of the babies born at Edward come from its south service area.

The new construction will renovate the NICU with 38 beds and 14 private rooms and the fourth floor of the bed tower will become additional OB/postpartum space with 28 beds and an interim nursery.

These new developments will put Edward on par with downtown hospitals for services and will save area residents commute times and keep them closer to home.

“We can now provide services in the suburbs that you used to have to get in Chicago,” said Taylor. “You don’t have to go downtown anymore.”

Edward is not the only hospital attempting to keep up with demand. Central DuPage Hospital, Saint Joseph, Delnor, and Good Samaritan, along with a slew of others, have all announced or completed renovations in the last five years. (See side bar)

The construction at Edward will add two additional floors to the west building, build out the sixth and eighth floors of the Heart Hospital, and add two stories to the south parking deck.

Since it opened its doors as Edward Sanitarium in 1907 the health care provider seems to have always been in a state of transition.

The staff is accustomed to construction and the next wave will not hinder daily operations at Edward, said Mastro.

“Our share of health care has grown every year for the past 12 years,” said Davis. “We need to make these expansions and provide additional beds. We don’t want to turn people away in the future.”