Condell moves forward with expansion

As it considers a new partnership and faces stiff competition at a turbulent time, Condell Medical Center is ready to pick up the pace.

The 80-year-old homegrown health-care organization wants to move quickly with a plan for a four-story patient building featuring private rooms. It also, for the first time, is publicly sharing a vision for its 77-acre Libertyville campus.

Though the village plan commission recommended denial, the village board Tuesday approved measures to allow construction of the so-called north tower, a master plan and various zoning map changes.

The village supported the plans, though modifications are expected to address neighbors' traffic and noise concerns.

The 5-0 approval is considered preliminary until trustees vote on specific ordinances. The decision cements a new relationship between Condell and the village.

"This was a big step," Mayor Jeff Harger said Wednesday. The village for a decade has tried to get Condell to commit to a plan, but was rebuffed by prior management teams.

"They are our second largest employer and they are a major contributor to this community, and we'd like to know what's going on a little bit," he said.

That changed with the arrival two years ago of Dennis Millirons as hospital president and CEO, Harger said.

Condell has worked closely with the village since then. At the same time, it weathered a $10.4 million operating loss in 2006 and ended its relationship with Blue Cross/Blue Shield, affecting tens of thousands of HMO and PPO patients.

Last week, Condell rejected a proposed merger with Lake Forest Hospital and is pursuing talks with former rival Advocate Health Care, which is planning a new hospital in Round Lake.

Millirons said Condell's new patient wing would better protect patients from infection. Only private rooms are envisioned, he said.

"Condell must remain ahead of the curve. We must be competitive," he said.

The expansion and future improvements, in concert with an Advocate partnership, "will create a focal point for health care right here in Libertyville," he said.

The patient tower, planned for a mid-2010 completion, would be connected by a bridge to the main building. It would be 104 feet tall including space for mechanical equipment on the roof.

Aside from cut-through traffic and equipment noise, residents were concerned with the building height. The plan commission consensus was the height wasn't in keeping with the neighborhood and the building could be located farther away from homes.

"I will not see the sun from September to April," said Bob Klausegger, who lives across the street at 330 Cleveland Ave.

"We are all for a top-notch hospital in the community. We oppose the way it is proposed," said Francois Bertaud, of 345 W. Austin Ave.

Time is a factor, the village board was told. Condell a year ago received state approval but is behind on required progress.

Though it received an extension, Condell officials said changing the building size would be prohibitively expensive and kill the project.

Harger said the plan commission made decisions on aspects of the project beyond the scope of the application.