Sherman Hospital

A new hospital for a new centuryIt has served the people of Illinois right through the 20th century; now Sherman Hospital is relocating to a new campus that will see it through the 21st. John OÔÇÖHanlon gets the full story from project specialist Dawn Stoner. Sherman Hospital treated its first patients in 1888, with four beds and one treatment room. Today it is one of the largest medical facilities in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, renowned for its excellence in the treatment of heart conditions, especially open-heart surgery, trauma, birthing, orthopedics, cancer and diabetes.But its 13-acre location in the center of the town began to be questioned 10 years ago when it became clear that major expansion would be needed to meet the populationÔÇÖs medical needs in the 21st century. ÔÇ£We originally planned to rebuild on our current site,ÔÇØ says project specialist Dawn Stoner. ÔÇ£That would have meant dividing the work into 17 different phases as individual buildings were demolished and rebuilt.ÔÇØ It soon became clear that rebuilding on a different site would be more cost-effective, less disruptive and would make it easier to incorporate the latest technologies.A 154-acre site was secured for the new campus at Randall Road, the main north-south thoroughfare intersecting with Interstate 90, a main highway from Chicago. Ten percent of thisÔÇöa larger area than the whole of the Center Street siteÔÇöwill be devoted to a geothermal lake. ItÔÇÖs only the second hospital in the US to use geothermal technology for its heating and cooling. Whatever the temperature on the surface, heat exchangers installed by Mechanical Inc. on the bed of the lake will deliver water at a constant 55 degrees to heat the hospital. ItÔÇÖs a giant non-polluting power house, but it is also just a regular lake, with fish in it and ducks on its surface. ItÔÇÖs already looking very attractive.According to Stoner thereÔÇÖs an enhanced financial dividend from the lake. It was designed to save $1 million a year in heating costs; thanks to the rising cost of oil, the savings has already gone up, and it will doubtless be saving even more by the time the hospital is opened.Not that this will defray the capital cost of building the new hospital. ItÔÇÖs worth noting that the project cost is $325 million. Currently the whole of the project is running under budget and is on target for completion by the fall of next year, ready for a grand opening late in 2009ÔÇöquite an achievement in a time of escalating materials cost.Smooth delivery of the project has turned on the three-way relationship between the hospital, the main contractor, Walsh Construction, and the architects (Shepley Bulfinch Richards and Abbott). Perhaps their greatest challenge has been the weather. Last summerÔÇÖs heavy rainfall delayed work, as did two tornado alerts that meant the site had to be evacuated. And last winterÔÇÖs extreme cold stopped progress too. This year things will be easier, Stoner hopes; the buildings will be completely enclosed by fall, and most work can proceed under cover.Stoner was born and raised in Elgin, just 30 miles from downtown Chicago, and has seen the townÔÇÖs population grow dramatically over the last five years. ÔÇ£The current Sherman Hospital is in the historic center; traffic flow has gotten more congested and parking more difficult,ÔÇØ she says. The new campus is much more accessible for emergency vehicles and patientsÔÇÖ cars, but thatÔÇÖs just one of its advantages. It will be a state-of-the art medical facility meeting best-practice standards in all areas. For example, thereÔÇÖs dedicated access for emergency ambulances, so no risk of delay at peak visiting times; there are separate corridors for visitors and staff, reducing the risk of infection; in-patients all have private rooms, and in those rooms the facilities are all in the same place, so staff always know where to find an oxygen point, for example. ÔÇ£We were a little ahead of the game with that one,ÔÇØ says Stoner. ÔÇ£The American Institute of Architects has now declared that this should be standard practice for new hospitals.ÔÇØAs the project has progressed, every chance to incorporate new developments has been taken. ÔÇ£If it has a direct clinical impact, we always try to adapt the design,ÔÇØ Stoner says. ÔÇ£When it just existed on paper we could move the lines if we needed to; even now that weÔÇÖre working in steel and concrete, weÔÇÖre still getting requests.ÔÇØ In any case, though it will probably never be completely paperless, the hospital is designed with a lot less space for storing records, images and other clinical data. PACS, a picture archiving and communication system, has already been implemented at the town center location, ready to be transferred to the new campus; and the job of scanning patient records for storage on disk has commenced.When the main medical departments are transferred to the new campus, the current Center Street campus will be converted to an outpatient facility that will never close its doors. It will provide urgent and immediate care, including physical therapy, scanning and X-ray, cardiac rehab and renal dialysis. However, shifting all the in-patient care over to Randall Road will be an interesting job, particularly as it all has to happen in one operation. Fortunately, StonerÔÇÖs team will have the help of a great consulting firm, Health Care Transitions of Denver, to bring experience in moving hospitals from one location to another. Who can say what healthcare will be like in another 100 yearsÔÇÖ time? Whatever advances we will see, Sherman Hospital has done its best to plan a facility that will meet the needs of the northeastern Chicago communities right up to the end of the present century.┬á