Mercyhealth is pleased to announce proposed plans to build a small micro-hospital and clinic on its land at the corner of Route 31 and Three Oaks Road in Crystal Lake, Illinois, to better serve its current patient population in McHenry County.
Micro-hospitals are emerging across the United States and are typically placed in close proximity to a health system’s patient population in order to provide more immediate acute and emergency care when time is of the essence.
The plan includes building a small 13 bed micro-hospital with private inpatient and intensive care beds, two operating rooms, and ancillary services. Because Crystal Lake does not have an emergency department, the micro-hospital will include a 24/7 emergency room, offering access for immediate emergency care to those who have limited access to transportation, especially the Medicaid, charity care and elderly patients. Critical patients would be stabilized and transferred to a higher level of care at Centegra and Advocate hospitals.
The plan involves bringing together existing Mercyhealth Crystal Lake area primary and specialty care physician practices into one building. “We are proposing a very simple idea. Building a very small
“We are proposing a very simple idea. Building a very small 13 bed micro-hospital to primarily serve those patients who are coming in for a simple procedure and may need to stay overnight,” states Javon R. Bea, President and CEO of Mercyhealth.
As part of our plan, Mercyhealth is asking the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board to approve the redistribution of 13 licensed inpatient beds from their hospital in Harvard, Illinois to the new facility in Crystal Lake, Illinois. Harvard Hospital currently has 18 licensed acute care beds and over the last five years, due to the movement of patient care services from the hospital to outpatient facilities, the average daily inpatient census has been four, leaving a considerable number of unused
beds throughout the year.
“The fact is, we are simply asking the Illinois Health Facilities and Review Board to redistribute beds that are not being used from our Harvard Hospital to the proposed
hospital in Crystal Lake,” states Javon R. Bea President and CEO of Mercyhealth. Adding, “Harvard Hospital is one of our legacy facilities and we promise to continue our longstanding commitment to the Harvard community, operating five inpatient and intensive care beds; medical, surgical and intensive care unit services. We will continue to operate in the same fashion we currently have in place with advanced technology, monitoring and ICU trained nurses at all times,” said Bea.
“We will also continue to offer full surgical services and an emergency department, as well as acute care at the Mercyhealth Care Center, our 45-bed long-term care facility in Harvard. We will be assessing the current space for opportunities to expand the Care Center to incorporate private rooms and expand the Center’s footprint,” Bea added.
“Our patients in the Crystal Lake area rely on us for high-quality, integrated health care services,” said Bea. “This micro-hospital will continue our long-standing commitment to Crystal Lake by bringing easy emergency access to our patients and the underserved with limited transportation.”
The plan will also enhance the economy of the Crystal Lake area by bringing hundreds of new jobs in construction and trade, as well as over 150 permanent health care jobs, including physician providers, nursing, dietary, housekeeping and professional support services.
Mercyhealth is required to apply for a Certificate of Need to the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board. Mercyhealth anticipates construction will begin once they obtain approval with the expected opening in 2020.
For more information, visit MercyhealthMicrohospitalAndClinic.org.
About Mercyhealth: Mercyhealth (formerly MercyRockford Health System) was formed in January 2015 through the merger of Mercy Health System and Rockford Health System. Today, Mercyhealth is a vertically integrated, not-for-profit, multi-regional health system comprising five hospitals, a wholly-owned insurance company, more than 8,000 partner employees, 600 W2 partner physicians and over 85 primary and specialty care medical centers and clinics across more than 50 communities in 15 northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin counties. Mercyhealth provides over 75 physician specialties, including neonatal and pediatric intensive care, perinatal care, neurosurgery (brain and spine), heart and vascular care, cancer care, plastic and reconstructive surgery, trauma, orthopedics and much more.
