May 16, 2024
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OSF plans to build new inpatient hospital in Ottawa

Total investment will be more than $180 million into Illinois Valley communities, OSF says

By Derek Barichello
OSF HealthCare plans to build a new inpatient hospital in Ottawa, the hospital chain announced Wednesday in a news release. The new hospital will be built across the street, south of East Norris Drive (U.S. 6), on a vacant 31-acre plot of OSF-owned land, OSF said in its release. The current OSF St. Elizabeth Medical Center was built in the early 1970s and is at the end of its useful life with infrastructure challenges necessitating this decision, the hospital said.

OSF HealthCare plans to build a new inpatient hospital in Ottawa, the hospital chain announced Wednesday in a news release. The new hospital will be built across the street, south of East Norris Drive (U.S. 6), on a vacant 31-acre plot of OSF-owned land, OSF said in its release. The current OSF St. Elizabeth Medical Center was built in the early 1970s and is at the end of its useful life with infrastructure challenges necessitating this decision, the hospital said. (Scott Anderson)

OSF HealthCare plans to build a new inpatient hospital in Ottawa, the hospital chain announced Wednesday in a news release.

The hospital chain, which recently bought the hospital in Peru with plans to reopen it in April, said the move is part of an ongoing commitment to transform, preserve and sustain evolving health care along the Interstate 80 corridor.

OSF HealthCare intends to file a certificate of need application with the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board to build the new inpatient hospital facility to replace the current one in Ottawa at 1100 E. Norris Drive.

The new hospital will be built across the street, south of East Norris Drive (Route 6), on a vacant 31-acre plot of OSF-owned land, OSF said in the release.

The current OSF St. Elizabeth Medical Center was built in the early 1970s and is at the end of its useful life, with infrastructure challenges necessitating this decision, the hospital said.

“Over the past decade, OSF HealthCare has sustained and grown quality health care services in and around Ottawa,” August Querciagrossa, CEO of the Western Region for OSF HealthCare, said in the release. “When the new hospital is built, it will be reimagined as levels and types of services offered are realigned throughout the I-80 corridor. Our intent across all our I-80 communities is to ensure current and future generations have access to care locally.”

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OSF HealthCare plans to build a new inpatient hospital in Ottawa, the hospital chain announced Wednesday in a news release. The new hospital will be built across the street, south of East Norris Drive (U.S. 6), on a vacant 31-acre plot of OSF-owned land, OSF said in its release. The current OSF St. Elizabeth Medical Center was built in the early 1970s and is at the end of its useful life with infrastructure challenges necessitating this decision, the hospital said.

OSF HealthCare plans to build a new inpatient hospital in Ottawa, the hospital chain announced Wednesday in a news release. The new hospital will be built across the street, south of East Norris Drive (U.S. 6), on a vacant 31-acre plot of OSF-owned land, OSF said in its release. The current OSF St. Elizabeth Medical Center was built in the early 1970s and is at the end of its useful life with infrastructure challenges necessitating this decision, the hospital said. (Scott Anderson)

OSF HealthCare expects to submit the application to the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board by the end of March, with approval for the new facility expected by the end of 2024. A tentative opening date is expected in late 2027.

This is a multiyear plan centered on the following future state services, the hospital said.

OSF St. Elizabeth-Ottawa will have a 26-bed inpatient behavioral health unit, 12 medical/surgical beds and a state-of-the-art surgery suite, emergency services, diagnostic imaging and outpatient care services.

Primary and specialty care clinics, including cardiovascular care, general surgery and OB/GYN, will continue to provide services in Ottawa.

OSF said it is committed to growing and expanding cancer care through the Fox River Cancer Center as part of the continuum/network with the OSF Cancer Institute in Peoria and the Patricia D. Pepe Center for Cancer Care at OSF St. Anthony Medical Center in Rockford.

In addition, rehab services will be moving to the newly constructed YMCA this spring.

Ottawa Mayor Robb Hasty said he was excited to hear from OSF on Wednesday morning it had decided to invest $110 million into the region, including the new facility in Ottawa.

“Their plan makes sense,” he said, acknowledging OSF is reallocating assets and taking into account health care from a more regional perspective. He said he was happy to see the cancer center and behavioral health programs staying in Ottawa.

The proposed location of the new facility just across the street took the mayor by some surprise.

“It was eye-opening when I first heard it, but then I looked at it, and said ‘Oh OK, I can see that now,’” Hasty said. “I’m excited to see they are moving aggressively. I think any time you have a new facility it creates energy. They said they hope to have everything up in 2027, which is an aggressive plan. It’s good to see OSF they are forward after what had happened in La Salle-Peru (with St. Margaret’s closing Peru and Spring Valley hospitals in 2023).”

Because of its central location, OSF St. Elizabeth-Peru will serve as the hub hospital within the I-80 corridor and support a full range of inpatient and outpatient services, the hospital said. This includes 45 medical/surgical beds, eight intensive care unit rooms, 11 obstetric rooms to support a regional birthing center, surgery and procedure rooms, emergency services, diagnostic imaging and robust outpatient care services.

In addition to these changes, OSF HealthCare serves residents of Mendota, Princeton, Streator, Marseilles, Spring Valley, Oglesby, Granville and Henry with a wide variety of services.

“Care has advanced from traditional inpatient settings to outpatient services. These advances in medicine allow patients today to receive more efficient and effective care than previous generations experienced,” Dawn Trompeter, president of OSF St. Elizabeth Medical Center, said in a news release. “This transformation also creates centers of excellence across various specialties, including wound care and occupational health.

“This is beneficial for patients because it means they are receiving focused and expert care in specific areas, ensuring better outcomes and tailored treatments for their needs, as well as recruitment and retention of high-quality clinicians and ancillary teams.”

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