Edward Hospital can get started on renovation plans

Edward Hospital received state approval Tuesday to begin the first project in a five-year, $100 million renovation of its Naperville campus.

The Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board approved Edward's $17 million plan to add 14 obstetrics beds and nine intensive care beds to its main building near downtown.

The project, to be funded through a combination of bonds and $1.7 million in cash, is expected to begin early next year and be completed by the end of 2008.

"It's small but a key piece to the overall puzzle," said Brian Davis, vice president of communications. "This gets the ball rolling for us."

Early next year, the hospital is expected to come before the same agency for approval on the remainder of the renovation plan, which will upgrade sections of obstetrics, the intensive care unit and the surgery services area.

The renovation calls for an addition to the hospital's fitness center, adding two levels and 350 spaces to a parking deck and completely renovating the surgical services department.

But it's the natal unit that will see the biggest changes. Hospital officials have said they plan on replacing every postpartum bed with an emphasis on providing comfort to their patients.

Missing from the plans is a southern addition that angered neighbors because of its proposed proximity to residential properties.

On Monday, the hospital received state approval to build a new 30,000-square-foot outpatient cancer center in Plainfield.

That project will cost about $18 million and use both new construction and some of the unused space in the existing Edward Plainfield Outpatient Center. The cancer center joins the campus' outpatient medical services center and surgery center, which is slated to open in the spring.