Valley Ambulatory Surgery Center to move into new building

ST. CHARLES – By next fall, the Valley Ambulatory Surgery Center is set to move into a new $16.6 million building just a stone's throw from its current building in St. Charles.

The center is set to move in November 2019 from its outdated 31-year-old building at 2210 Dean St. in the Randallwood Professional Plaza west of Randall Road to a brand new 23,000-square-foot facility at 2475 Dean St. The new $16.6 million building will be in the Leroy Oakes Business Park in St. Charles, just west of its current site.

Ambulatory surgery centers are independent healthcare facilities which perform outpatient surgery. The center first opened in 1987.

City officials recently issued a building permit for the proposed new center. The currently facility is outdated and inefficient, said Daniel Hauer, administrator of the Valley Ambulatory Surgery Center.

"We will be able to offer a new, state-of-the-art facility," he said. "In the '80s, standards were a little different. And in the '80s, the patient perception of healthcare was a little bit different. We were one of the first ambulatory surgery centers in the country. We've been trying to catch up with the times for quite some time. There's only so much you can do really without just going back to the drawing board."

For example, the new facility will feature larger operating rooms. The center is seeing a higher demand for its services these days.

"In the last three years, we've seen a 46 percent increase in volume," Hauer said. "So the demand for the surgery center is going up. We're the only ambulatory surgery center in St. Charles and we're also only one of two in the immediate area. We host 14 different specialties. We're kind of the staple for outpatient surgery in the Fox Valley."

The types of surgeries the center including everything from oral/dental surgery to total joint replacements to head and neck surgery. Valley Ambulatory Surgery Center sees an average of 7,500 patients a year.

After looking at other possible locations throughout the Fox Valley, center officials decided they wanted to stay in St. Charles.

"We were born in St. Charles, if you will," Hauer said. "There is obviously some emotional attachment to St. Charles I think for everyone, including staff, myself and the community."

To ensure a smooth transition, the current facility will stay open up until the time the new facility opens. Valley Ambulatory Surgery Center promotes itself as a cost-effective alternative to inpatient care.

Hauer said the new facility will help keep costs down further.

"With over 6,000 ambulatory surgery centers in the country today, we've all learned a thing or two from each other in how to create a higher efficiency outpatient surgical environment where we can continue to keep the costs low," he said. "We're a community oriented facility and that's what we plan to do for the next 30 years, provide great care at the best price possible, while keeping everybody safe."