Exactly one month after the official groundbreaking of Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital’s $247 million expansion and campus modernization project, construction preparations are well underway and the hospital has launched a website to keep us updated on their progress.
Hospital services will continue, uninterrupted, during the project. When it’s complete, the new and improved hospital will feature all private rooms, expanded intensive care and operating rooms and new state-of-the-art technologies with a design focused on enhanced offerings for patients who need more medical attention while also accommodating the national trend toward more outpatient care.
Hospital President Karen Lambert says the project will completely change the face of Good Shepherd hospital. “It’s really going to address how healthcare is going to be provided in the future. There is going to be a realignment of how services are offered as much of the care provided is going to be on the outpatient basis. This is truly what I believe is the beginning of a new era in healthcare.”
We recently toured the site with Senior Superintendent Tom Simon from Mortenson Construction for an update on their progress and a closer look at the work that lies ahead before the project is complete in 2017.
Tom says the complete campus modernization, the first in the hospital’s 34-year history, is a massive undertaking and they’ve worked closely with hospital officials and physicians to plan phases with the least possible disruption to the ongoing operation of the hospital. He says the project boils down four major components including site work, interior modernization plus the two that will be most visible from the exterior, the north and south hospital expansions.
North Pavilion
In the past month, crews have been readying the site for construction of the new north pavilion where many of the patient rooms will be located.
“We’ve demolished the ICU building and are doing some enabling work right now preparing the site. We’ve rerouted all existing utilities and relocated the road so that the footprint of the new building is clear and we can transition right into the excavation and foundation scopes of work. We’re going to start some of the mass excavation early in the new year and then we transition right into foundations and structure.”
“By April first we intend on starting the structural steel part of the building. By August first we intend on the structure being done and working on enclosure. So, by the end of 2014, our intentions are that the north expansion will be 100 percent enclosed so we’re working inside the facility throughout the winter next year.”
Good Shepherd Hospital’s licensed bed count will increase from 169 to 176 once the entire project is complete. The first floor of the north pavilion will house 18 new ICU beds. Floors two through four will include 84 private in patient medical surgical beds that overlook a green roof.
South Pavilion
The south expansion includes a total hospital facelift, with a brand new facade on the entire south face of the hospital where the new, open and airy main hospital entrance and lobby will be enclosed with glass and flooded with light to greet patients and guests. The south pavilion will also include a conference center and new breast care center.
They plan to start the south expansion in July of 2014 and Tom says this is where they’ve really worked hard to plan construction with “zero impact” on the operations of the hospital.
“When we get to the south expansion, the dynamics of patient flow are impacted a little bit more because we’ll have to relocate the front desk, the registration component will move over to the outpatient pavilion and that’s going to be the main entryway for about a year and a half while we’re finishing the main facade of the tower building.”
Throughout the process, clinical and non-clinical staff will move their offices to other locations, some in neighboring medical office buildings and others in temporarily erected trailers, until the new buildings are complete.
When it comes to how patients and visitors will be impacted, the hospital has created a website that’s all about keeping us informed on their progress. You’ll find that website at this link:
AdvocateHealth.com/GoodShepherdModernization
That site is also where you can find information about contributing financially to the project. To date, generous donors from the Barrington community have contributed $18+ million to help make the $247 million project a reality.
Modernization capital campaign co-chairs Paul and Barbara Hills were there to thank donors at the groundbreaking on October 2nd. That’s where they announced they’re on track to reach their goal of raising $25 million from community benefactors for the hospital’s expansion and modernization.
Excitement at that groundbreaking was evident as we visited with both donors and guests in attendance, including Carol Nelson, Diane Stephens and Kim Duchossois.
“The hospital certainly is needed and gets a lot of use. I was very grateful to have it this summer when we had a bad accident. I was here in the ICU for 13 days and they took such good care of me.” – Diane Stephens
“I think what’s so significant is that not only has Advocate given so much, but this hospital was really built by this community and it continues to grow through the generosity of the community.” – Carol Nelson
“Our hospital is such a necessary resource. You always want your community’s medical services to be state-of-the-art like we want our schools to be. It gives me chills to think about how, when we have a need in the Barrington broader community, it takes just a few key people to sort of light the fire and then all of a sudden we see this kind of a rally.” – Kim Duchossois
The best way to stay up to date on the latest hospital construction progress is to, again, visit this website for updates:
AdvocateHealth.com/GoodShepherdModernization
In the meantime, here’s a slideshow of the renderings showing what we can expect to see once they unveil the new Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital in 2017.
