CHICAGO, IL (December 6, 2004) – A $1 million federal grant will allow Swedish Covenant Hospital (SCH) to upgrade and expand the hospital’s emergency department, the culmination of two years of work with U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin and Rep. Rahm Emanuel, according to Mark Newton, SCH president and CEO.
Durbin and Emanuel were honored during a celebration at the hospital last week in Galter Medical Pavilion. The federal grant will allow the hospital to pursue the improvements sooner than originally anticipated. “Senator Durbin and Representative Emanuel worked very hard to enable us to bring even better emergency care to our diverse community,” Newton told those assembled. “We are extremely grateful that both officials recognized the need for expanded emergency services in our community.”
Plans call for groundbreaking next spring, and the facility cannot come any too soon, says Newton, noting that visits to the hospital’s emergency department increased by 31 percent between 2000 and the present, with ambulance runs to the emergency department increasing by 130 percent and inpatient admissions up by 48 percent during the same period.
The project is estimated to cost $6 million. The improvements will expand the “Fast Track” examination and triage spaces, reducing emergency waiting times, increasing the number of exam rooms, doubling the waiting area capacity, providing additional staging for ambulances and enhancing environmental isolation against airborne pathogens in the event of public health threats.
The funding was included in the Omnibus Appropriations Bill approved by the Senate and the House late last month. President Bush is expected to sign the bill in the coming weeks.
“Residents of Chicago’s North side depend on Swedish Covenant Hospital when they’re at their most vulnerable,” said Durbin. “The emergency department sees everything from broken bones and chest pains to visits from those who can’t afford preventative care and have nowhere else to go. The hospital’s value in this community grows every day. The funding we’re announcing today will help Swedish Covenant build an emergency department that’s equipped to meet the needs of this diverse and growing community.”
Those sentiments were echoed by Emanuel, who praised the hospital’s work. “By providing quality health services and being prepared for any kind of emergency, whether accidental or intentional, Swedish Covenant is on the front lines in protecting our neighborhoods and keeping our families safe and healthy.”
Swedish Covenant Hospital is a comprehensive healthcare facility that has been providing health and wellness services to the communities of Chicago’s North side for the past 117 years. One of the few independent, nonprofit hospitals in the area, Swedish Covenant remains focused on its mission of compassionate care, administered by more than 500 physicians and hundreds of other nurses and professional staff. To learn more about the hospital, visit www.SwedishCovenant.org.
Copyright © 2011 The Evangelical Covenant Church.