Silver Cross in the News

Silver Cross Builds on its Commitment to Community
Replacement Hospital Brings Better Healthcare and Economic Development for Joliet Citizens
For Progress: Joliet Communities—February 14, 2008

JOLIET—In the early 1890s, a small group of Christian women recognized the need for a hospital that would serve all residents regardless of religion, race or socio-economic status. With much community support, in 1895 the Will County Union of King’s Daughters and Sons opened a two-story, 33-bed not-for-profit hospital on the eastside of Joliet named after their emblem-the silver maltese cross. Since then, Silver Cross Hospital has evolved into a three-time Thomson (formerly Solucient) 100 Top Hospitals National Award winner serving all residents of Will County including Joliet.

Today, the Will County Union of King’s Daughters and Sons continues to support that dream; this time, with a 289-bed replacement hospital at I-355 and Route 6-just three miles east of the current campus.

Last July, the Silver Cross Hospital Board of Directors unanimously decided that the only way they could meet the needs of the growing community over the next 50 to 100 years while continuing to provide the highest level of quality care that the hospital has become known for is to build a replacement facility. The new hospital will be located just 1,500 feet outside of Joliet city limits at I-355 and Route 6 on 70 acres of land that the hospital had acquired many years ago.

It took the hospital’s Board 18 months to make the difficult decision after exhausting every possible scenario to increase beds, reorient departments to meet modern clinical standards and update existing rooms to provide family space and more room for staff to do their jobs on the existing campus.

“Unfortunately, the cost to renovate and expand the 11 piecemealed buildings—some dating back to 1919, would be too costly—about $300 more a square foot than building new,” says Silver Cross Present and CEO Paul Pawlak. “The Board then looked at building additional bed towers, which would also be expensive taking seven to ten years to complete. And the demolition and construction would be too disruptive to hospital operations. Hospitals don’t have the luxury to move to a temporary location for a few years, like the Chicago Bears did when renovating Soldier Field.”

“When we looked into putting a replacement hospital on the existing site, even this posed a problem since a large portion of the open space is not suited for building due to the terrain.”

The Board’s only viable option was to build on a new site. It would only take three years to complete and by starting from scratch using industry standards in the design, Silver Cross could make a positive impact on patent care, privacy and safety.

“We still believe that this is clearly the right decision for our patients,” says Paul Pawlak, Silver Cross Hospital President and CEO. “It is much more sensible to start from the ground-up than to keep sinking money into a campus that would never allow us to improve how we deliver care.”

According to Dr. Dave Mikolajczak, Director of Emergency Services at Silver Cross, patients who are admitted from the emergency department have to travel the length of two football fields to get to their room. Last year, the hospital saw over 50,000 patients-half of them requiring an inpatient stay.

Improved Access to Emergency Care

Relocating the campus to the center of the hospital’s service area would make the facility accessible to more patients while improving emergency services for all area residents. In most cases, ambulances will have shorter transport times to the replacement hospital as its new location off of I-355 and I-80 offers easier access for many communities. And for East side Joliet residents, it will still take less time to arrive by ambulance to the new Silver Cross location than it does for far West side Joliet residents to get to Provena’s St. Joe’s Emergency Department.

“The new location will not affect the ability of our ambulances to respond to emergency calls or that of paramedics to quickly stabilize and treat a patient before they even arrive at the hospital,” says Dave Maurer, Director of the Will-Grundy EMS System. “It is important that the community realizes that the critical time in a medical emergency is the response time of the ambulance to the patient; not the travel time to the hospital.”

For more than 30 years, Silver Cross has served as the resource hospital for the Will-Grundy EMS System training thousands of paramedics with 30 fire departments and ambulance services. These first responders are trained to provide advanced life support, which includes stabilizing a patient after a heart attack or other life-threatening situations.

Committed to Serving All

Besides improving access to emergency care in the replacement hospital, Silver Cross has committed to keep an urgent care facility at its present location to care for its East side Joliet neighbors. Although it is premature to determine the hours and types of service that will be available, administrators have already proposed talks with the Will County Health Department to partner with the hospital in developing this vital healthcare asset.

“Throughout its 100-year history, Silver Cross has served the community with charity care and multiple community health programs,” says Jim Zelko, Executive Director of the Will County Health Department. “At their new facility, Silver Cross will be able to keep their commitment to the region’s poor and uninsured in a modernized high-tech building. And, the hospital has further demonstrated its commitment with plans to maintain an urgent care center at its current site.”

According to Dr. Dan Gutierrez, Chairman of the Silver Cross Board of Directors, 27% of Silver Cross patients are on Medicaid or uninsured, which is more than any other area hospital. “These are some of our sickest patients and in the new hospital we will be able to care for them even better-with the latest technology and safety standards. They deserve quality care. They deserve a new hospital.”

Pace has also committed to work with Silver Cross to ensure that East side residents who rely on public transportation are able to get to the replacement hospital.

Joliet Campus Redevelopment

Along with the added health care benefits Silver Cross will provide Joliet residents at the replacement hospital, the redevelopment of the current campus is a once-in-a lifetime opportunity for the economic revitalization for the Joliet’s East side. There has already been interest in the campus by several national real estate developers. But Silver Cross’ administrators want to work side-by-side with city, county and community leaders on the redevelopment of the 50-acre campus.

“We want to leave it better than we found it,” says Pawlak.

Silver Cross has already put considerable effort into developing a vision for redevelopment of its current campus, which has the potential for tax generating revenue for the City of Joliet as Silver Cross does not pay taxes; create more jobs for area residents; and become an economic gateway for Joliet’s East side. In December, Silver Cross formed the Silver Cross Healthy Community Commission. Comprised of 15 community leaders, the Commission will make recommendations on the Joliet campus re-use. Led by Will County District 8 Board Member Margie Woods, the Commission will also focus on workforce development.

“With the relocation of the hospital, there will be over 1,000 new jobs between the construction of the new hospital, added healthcare jobs and the redevelopment of the current campus,” says Margie Woods.

“Over the next three years, the project will create more than 600 union construction jobs in building the replacement hospital alone,” said Tom White, President of the Will Counties Building & Trades Council. “There will also likely be more work in the demolition and redevelopment of the hospital’s current site in Joliet for many years to come.”

In the coming months, the Commission will also look at how Silver Cross can improve the health of the residents throughout the county.

What’s Next

To date, the hospital’s plans have received tremendous community support including endorsements from the Will County Board, Will & Grundy Building Trades Council, Will County Center for Economic Development, Joliet Region Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Joliet Area Hospice, Caterpillar and many other Joliet and Will County businesses, community leaders and elected officials. However, before breaking ground, Silver Cross still needs approval from the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board. For more information on how patients and residents can show their support, visit www.silvercross.org or call (815) 740-1100.