Amita on target with $250 million in new projects through 2021
Arlington Heights-based Amita Health's plan to expand three suburban hospitals and build four new medical facilities could cost up to $250 million and will be completed around 2021, its chief executive said Friday.
At the same time, smaller medical offices will close and consolidate into those new centers in order to bring that medical care closer to patients, CEO Mark Frey said.
"We understand that health care will continue to evolve and we need to rethink what's best for our consumers who will need better access and better health care," said Frey. "We need to make it easier to get those services and make them closer to home and easier to coordinate that care. This is the wave of the future and where we see medicine moving."
Amita Health has been on target with its expansion plans shortly after its merger between Adventist Midwest Health and Alexian Brothers Health System in April 2015. The state's third largest health care system parleyed its earned money and philanthropic gifts into an aggressive strategic plan, all while competing health systems began restructuring or laying off workers.
Amita's first phase, which is under way, includes the addition of new ambulatory services centers in Carol Stream, Bartlett, Woodridge and Lake Zurich at a combined cost of about $75 million.
Another $50 million will be invested in their hospitals, including Amita Health's Adventist Medical Center Hinsdale with a new neurosciences and surgical center, as well as a new neonatal and obstetrics center. Adventist Medical Center LaGrange also will get a new orthopedic and joint center along with a cardio and vascular services center.
Another $5 million will be focused on a psychiatry services center also in Hinsdale.
In addition, the Hoffman Estates hospital will get a new orthopedic and joint institute that will cost roughly $20 million.
For every new center that opens, about three to five other smaller medical offices likely will be closed and consolidated into the new buildings, Frey said.
Amita already has about 3,000 doctors and another 12,000 support staff throughout its system. That workforce could increase another 125 workers as the new centers open. The small office consolidations are not expected to cut jobs, Frey said.
A second phase is expected between 2019 and 2021 and include roughly $100 million in new technology and equipment changes as well as maintenance of the facilities and other expenses.
Amita has decided to move ahead with its growth plan, despite the uncertainty in the health care industry caused by the national political struggles surround the Affordable Healthcare Act, Frey said.
"No matter what happened with Obamacare, we still have many people who need health care and their needs aren't going away," Frey said.
Amita Health Facts
9 hospitals, including three ranked "Best Hospitals" by U.S. News & World Report
6 acute care hospitals
3 specialty hospitals
6 immediate care centers
80 clinics and outpatient facilities
138 AMITA Health Medical Group sites
500 multi-specialty doctors and associate practitioners on staff
3,000 hospital-affiliated doctors