St. Alexius officials hope to start expansion construction in spring

Officials at St. Alexius Medical Center in Hoffman Estates hope they can start work on a $117.4 million expansion project by spring.

The project will include all the features of the previously announced $60 million children's hospital that was supposed to start construction in 2007. Officials said they're more confident that they'll follow through with this plan and have expanded the project to address the needs of both younger and older patients.

"It would have been a huge mistake" to proceed only with the original plans, said Linda Gump, a hospital vice president. "We need to make sure we're growing to meet the needs of all of our patients."

The hospital last week submitted the new plan to the state health facilities planning board for approval. That board could vote in March. The construction could last for eight years and is to include a six-story building on the southeast side of the hospital campus, adjacent to the day surgery facilities exist at 1555 N. Barrington Road.

Upon completion, 90 percent of the hospital's 230 staffed beds will be in private rooms, Gump said. St. Alexius officials have long lobbied for more private rooms, reflecting an ongoing hospital trend. Some elderly patients prefer having roommates, so not all the rooms will be converted, Gump said. Besides patient safety, individual rooms also promote better infection control.

The pediatric and obstetrics areas will also be totally private for the first time, Gump said. New conference rooms, which will free up existing hospital space for patient care, and day surgery areas will be added. Workers will also make improvements to air-conditioning and heating systems and add Wi-Fi Internet connections. There will also be more parking spaces.

Gump also said the hospital has seen a 9-percent increase in inpatients served this year compared to last. She said that shows how badly the expansion is needed.

"The volume is here," she said. "We need to grow."

The hospital's foundation had been engaged in an ongoing effort to raise money for the original children's hospital project. Information on that plan has since been pulled from the hospital's Web site. While officials showed off renderings to the public, that initial plan never fully got off the ground.

While Hoffman Estates officials were aware of the hospital's intentions, formal plans never made it to the village's planning, building and zoning board, which will need to review the project.

The new plan is different, as Gump said the hospital is prepared to start work soon after it receives the green light.

"Obviously we hope the state approves it," Gump said. "Provided they do, we are ready to begin construction."

St. Alexius is part of the Alexian Brothers Health System network, which also includes Alexian Brothers Medical Center in Elk Grove Village.