Visitors enjoy a family health fest and tour of McHenry County's newest hospital
Last year, Centegra's annual Family Health Fest at its Huntley campus featured a "touch the trucks" opportunity as a new $230 million hospital was taking shape across the parking lot.
On Saturday, more than 1,000 kids and their parents enjoyed the same variety of activities offered since 2006 when Centegra Health System bought 110 acres along Haligus Road. But there was a one-time twist in advance of the scheduled opening at 7 a.m. Aug. 9.
Besides the popular rock climbing wall, low-net tennis for kids, bike and helmet fittings, balloon artist, stiltwalker, oldies music and free Kona Ice, visitors this year could get tours of the 128-bed facility.
And, to mark the pending presence of the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago in the new Huntley operation, a children's ambulance was on hand. The new hospital is located between Algonquin and Reed roads.
"It's like walking into a hotel," Lakewood resident Steve Wiest said of the 380,000-square foot Kahler Slater-designed building. "It's like you almost hope you have to come in here for some reason."
Wiest was with his wife, Brooke, who is a physical therapist, and son, Matthew, who is almost six years old.
"We've been watching the hospital being built and wanted to see inside and meet the staff," Brooke Wiest said. "This is definitely the prettiest hospital I've ever seen."
Besides the appearance, Centegra officials say the available services and features grew out of extensive input from the community, medical staff, emergency responders and others who offered ideas for a year and a half before groundbreaking in February 2014.
"The ambulance garage is something we ended up changing because of their input," said Hadley Streng, Centegra's vice president of strategies and development.
The intent was to give the hospital a homey feel, she said. It is designed to be calming and inviting with less of an institutional atmosphere, as evidenced by the use of "comfort colors," sound-deadening flooring and ceiling materials and visitor amenities that include two overnight rooms.
Centegra Hospital Huntley is a Level 2 trauma center designed to treat and stabilize the most critically injured patients before they are flown to Level 1 centers.
Centegra is McHenry County's largest employer and also operates a 106-bed hospital in Woodstock and 179-bed facility in McHenry. The Huntley hospital will initially employ 500, not including doctors, and serve patients north and south of the I-90 corridor including Algonquin, Lake in the Hills, Crystal Lake and Hampshire.