Silver Cross in the News
New Silver Cross construction starts in 2 weeks As if it were a medical emergency, Silver Cross Hospital wasted no time in putting its construction plans into action following Tuesday's approval for a new replacement hospital in New Lenox. The day after the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board endorsed the $398 million project to replace the existing Joliet facility, equipment was moved onto the new 70-acre site on the southeast corner of U.S. 6 and Clinton Road. Its action likely will spur other developers who have been waiting to see which way the local economy would turn. "We're ready," said Ruth Colby, the hospital's vice president of business development. The village needs to approve the site plan and issue a permit, which could happen later this month, and the hospital needs to award bids to contractors. "Construction will begin in two weeks," she said. A formal groundbreaking ceremony will be announced later. The 600,000-square-foot facility is expected to open in late 2011 or early 2012.
'Thrilled' developers Last month, developers for one of the two huge retail developments planned to open near the proposed hospital site said it will delay construction by a year. Developers of Forest City Lifestyle Center said a sagging economy has prompted them to push back the opening of their project from 2010 to 2011. The Zaremba Group, developers of the second big retail project, have delayed plans for the second phase of their project, though the first phase is under construction now and slated to open in the fall of 2009. "The hospital going in there now certainly piques the interest of those who were delaying their projects. This speeds the (economic development) process back up," he said. "I've talked to developers. They are thrilled." It will push potential mall tenants and give residents "one more reason" to want to come to New Lenox, the mayor said. John Wojtila, of the Zaremba Group, which is developing the Cedar Crossings shopping center just east of the hospital site, said having Silver Cross for a neighbor "is definitely good for us, good for our project. We're happy." The fact that the hospital sits on prime commercial land is not an issue. The village still has plans for nearly 3 million square feet of retail space, village administrator Russ Loebe said. And he's counting on the hospital's 1,500 employees and all the daytime traffic it will generate to buy gas, eat and shop in New Lenox. Silver Cross also will spur development of other businesses, such as medical offices, orthopedic clinics, flower shops and hotels that will generate property and sales tax revenues, he said.
Hitting the ground running "They want to move as quickly as possible," Diduch said, adding that she's already had interest from other medical office facilities to locate in the New Lenox area. While the approval process in the village has been smooth, the past year has not been an easy campaign for Silver Cross officials. The move 3.5 miles down the road was opposed by the city of Joliet and three other hospitals- Ingalls Memorial in Harvey, Palos Community Hospital in Palos Heights and St. James Hospital in Chicago Heights - who challenged the relocation from an economically challenged area to a more affluent one. During two public hearings in January, 48 people spoke out against the plan, and 99 supported it. In a letter-writing campaign, the state agency received 1,228 in favor of the replacement hospital and 19 opposed. In recent years, the state board has not looked favorably on other hospital proposals in the area. In 2004, it rejected a plan by St. Francis Hospital and Health Center in Blue Island to build a facility in Orland Park and rejected Advocate Health Care's proposal for a hospital in Tinley Park, citing a surplus of about 1,400 hospital beds in the area. The Silver Cross plan is different because it includes closing its 110-year-old facility with its 304 beds. Hospital officials initially planned to sell its 70 acres in New Lenox to finance an expansion, but after researching its options, they decided it was more cost effective to build a new one than to renovate its current 50-acre campus. "This will be a state-of-the-art health care facility to benefit all of Will County," Colby said. "We will have Children's Memorial Hospital on campus and a lot more to come." Susan DeMar Lafferty can be reached at slafferty@southtownstar.com or (708) 802-8805. 
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