Silver Cross’ new platform makes scheduling medical appointments easier

Schedule through the New Lenox hospital’s SCHedule NOW platform.

After Tinley Park and Rockford closed their mental health facilities, Grundy County Health Department created a crisis stabilization program. According to Hudson people would be screened in the hospital for eligibility and determination.

“More short-term psychiatric beds are needed. If someone is suicidal, they have to find someone who will take them. Beds are very scarce in this area,” Hudson said.

Currently Presence Saint Joseph's Hospital has 31 inpatient psychiatric beds, Silver Cross Hospital, pictured above, only has 20 and Morris Hospital doesn’t have any.

To help alleviate this need, Silver Cross Hospital and US HealthVest are planning to build a 100-bed psychiatric hospital in New Lenox.

Most veterans have to travel more than an hour away to get any sort of VA care, which causes issues with travel. Tyler went to the Milwaukee VA and St. Joseph’s in Joliet a couple times for treatment.

“At three for four days, that wasn’t much to offer someone who felt suicidal. I felt better when I left [St. Joseph’s]," Tyler said. "I didn’t realize it at the time but I felt better because I was amongst other people who were struggling like myself. The camaraderie of people with other people who were struggling gave me hope."

Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox has enhanced its online scheduling system to make scheduling medical tests and appointments “quick and easy,” according to a news release from Silver Cross.

People can schedule urgent care visits and tests such as X-rays, mammograms, CT scans, MRIs and lab tests through the hospital’s SCHedule NOW platform. The scheduler simply selects the desired service from an online menu, according to the release.

The platform works with any device, including iPhone, tablet, Android or laptop, as long as the scheduler is connected to the internet, the release said. The scheduler selects the service from an online menu, according to the release.

For information, visit silvercross.org/schedule-now.