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MEDICAL CENTER/BELVIDERE
Hospital Acquisition Meets Community Need
In December 2007, the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board approved SwedishAmerican's acquisition of the 57,000-square-foot, 55-bed, Northwest Suburban Community Hospital in Belvidere. Since the acquisition, the health system's senior leadership has been implementing renovation plans, staffing and operations for the facility.
"Obtaining the license for Northwest Suburban Community Hospital is a very big deal for SwedishAmerican and from the many positive comments we have received, it's a big deal for the community of Belvidere," says Dr. Bill Gorski, president and CEO of SwedishAmerican Health System. "This positions us well to provide much needed medical and emergency services to this growing part of the region."
"We've been looking at ways to increase our presence in Boone County for several years," says Don Daniels, vice president of medical group clinic management. "The University of Illinois College of Medicine at Rockford's 2006 community health study helped us update our plans for health services in the greater Belvidere community. Around the same time, Northwest Suburban announced that it would be closing its bariatric surgical program in early 2007, and we saw this as a viable opportunity to bolster our presence in the region."
SwedishAmerican is renovating the Emergency Department (ED) and Outpatient areas of the hospital, which could take up to 12 months to complete. "We are adding imaging services, including CT scanning, ultrasound and mammography. In addition, a new lab will be built to support the Emergency Department. We're also updating the current pharmacy, and adding a sleep lab and physical therapy services."
The renovation will increase the actual size of the ED and increase its capacity to treat patients through greater efficiency, private rooms and a separate ambulance entrance. The ED will go from a single room with two patient cots to four private rooms. "Once renovations are complete, we anticipate seeing 10-15 patients a day, just in the Emergency Room," adds Daniels. "Board-certified doctors will staff the ED 24 hours a day, seven days a week."
During the renovation process, SwedishAmerican will operate the facility and maintain services at the current levels as required by the State of Illinois. Once renovations are finished, the facility will be renamed SwedishAmerican Medical Center/Belvidere.
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