Regulators greenlight two hospital projects

Two DuPage County hospitals received approval Tuesday from the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board to move forward with multi-million-dollar projects.

Winfield's Central DuPage Hospital was granted permission to build a $35 million comprehensive outpatient cancer center adjacent a proton therapy cancer treatment center it's building in Warrenville.

Meanwhile, officials from Naperville's Edward Hospital received a green light to move forward with a $5.7 million renovation of its existing immediate care facility in Plainfield into a 24-hour free-standing emergency care center.

Both projects were approved by the board in unanimous 4-0 votes.

Central DuPage

Despite opposition from a group of oncologists housed next to the hospital's Winfield campus, state regulators signed off on the Warrenville project after researching the doctors' concerns.

Mike Vivoda, the hospital's vice president, said the new facility will allow Central DuPage to shuffle some of its staff and to free space at the Winfield campus for doctors to expand their practices.

The new facility will be a 48,000-square-foot structure and provide a variety of cancer-related services. It is expected to be open in the summer of 2010.

Edward Hospital

State regulators initially expressed concerns about whether Plainfield's population could support Edward's proposed free-standing emergency care center.

Hospital officials showed board members a year's worth of data detailing how 42,000 people from the proposed center's service area already use the immediate care facility in Plainfield and emergency services at the hospital's Naperville campus. That seemed to sway any doubters.

Edward officials still are pursuing a full-service hospital in Plainfield, but called the 24-hour emergency care center a stopgap until that hospital is built. Hospital officials said the center would open by June 30.

Edward leaders are scheduled to make a final pitch for the Plainfield hospital before the board today.