State panel approves ER facility in Lindenhurst

State health officials unanimously approved a proposal to construct a free-standing emergency room facility in Lindenhurst on Tuesday.

Vista Health Systems plans to complete the facility by the end of the year. The $3.9 million proposal calls for a seven-station, 4,235-square-foot expansion to Vista's existing outpatient medical treatment campus located at 1050 Red Oak Lane in Lindenhurst, according to a Vista news release issued late Tuesday. The center will provide 24-hour emergency services seven days a week with access to CT, MRI, X-ray and ultrasound scans.

"The organization recognized a need for improved access to emergency health care in that community," said Barbara Martin, president and CEO of Vista Health Services in an e-mail interview.

The existing campus includes a full-service ambulatory surgical treatment center as well as a Federal Aviation Administration-approved heliport for emergency transfers.

"We are very happy. Now we can finally do what's right for Lake County - improve access to emergency health care for North Central and Northwestern Lake County residents," Martin said in the news release.

Waukegan-based Vista, whose previous bid to build a hospital in Lindenhurst was denied, applied for permission to build the free-standing emergency center in 2007.

The center will be the second free-standing emergency center in Lake County.

Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board officials did not have any immediate comment on their decision to accept the proposal.

Vista plans to break ground on the center in midsummer, according to Martin.

Officials from Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville were among those who spoke in opposition to Vista's plan at a public hearing last month. Advocate representatives argued that adding emergency services in Lindenhurst would duplicate what already is offered in Lake County.

Condell was named a Level 1 trauma center in 2009. The hospital also has finished an expansion of its emergency services and now has 32 stations.

Vincent Pierri, a Condell spokesman, declined to comment on the Vista decision announced Tuesday.

Opposition also came from Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital. Officials there at last month's public hearing contended Vista's Linderhurst center would be 6 miles from Lake Forest's new free-standing emergency center in Grayslake, and unnecessary.

Matt Koschmann, a Northwestern Lake Forest vice president, could not be immediately reached for comment Tuesday.