An expansion for Endeavor Health Edward Hospital’s cardiovascular services has reached a significant step to move forward.
What is the Edward Heart Hospital expansion?
Parent company Endeavor Health will be adding two new operating rooms adjacent to its two existing operating rooms and a new Intensive Care Unit with 10 beds dedicated to cardiovascular services, all on the fourth floor of the Edward Heart Hospital. Two other existing operating rooms will be relocated to another floor in the process to make space.
How will it be funded?
The Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board approved Endeavor Health’s Certificate of Need for the $29-million project. The funding comes from money the hospital already has in its capital improvement budget, but required approval by that board.
Addressing growing needs
President of Endeavor Health Yvette Saba says the project addresses the growing incidence of cardiovascular disease.
“While we’ve made huge strides in preventative medicine and cardiovascular disease, we have an aging population,” said Saba. “Plus there’s a greater incidence of obesity which leads to all sorts of other things, things like hypertension, coronary artery disease.”
In addition, the expansion addresses a capacity issue, with the rate at which existing ICU beds are being used far exceeding state standards, according to System Vice President for the Endeavor Health Cardiovascular Institute, Catherine Smith.
“The utilization of our OR beds run at about 70 to 80%. For an average bed, we should only be at 60% or below,” said Smith. “It’s extremely important that we meet the demands of the Naperville community with their cardiovascular disease and continue to provide that excellence in care.”
One of three phases
This particular expansion is one of three phases – the first to be approved – with future plans to add more catheter labs and hybrid rooms, with supporting pre- and post-recovery beds. Cardiac cath labs are used only for minimally invasive tests and procedures on the heart and blood vessels, while a hybrid room can be used as both a cath lab and an open heart surgery operating room.
The idea is to keep Edward’s Heart Hospital at the forefront of cardiovascular care, while also attracting the best of healthcare professionals, Saba says, especially during an industry staffing shortage.
“When you have a state-of-the-art program that has all the greatest technology, is easy to work in, that keeps you safe as an employee, and as a patient, that is a huge recruitment factor,” said Saba.
What’s next?
Saba says she expects to get permits from the city of Naperville and the Illinois Department of Public Health soon, with demolition of current rooms on the fourth floor to start in April, construction of new rooms to begin in May, and completion of the project by about the fall of 2027.
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