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HUNTLEY – Centegra Hospital – Huntley was scheduled to open at 7 a.m. Tuesday, but in an unexpected turn, its doors opened about a half-hour early for its first patient.
About 6:20 a.m., staff members of the new hospital went outside to take photos before the new facility in Huntley officially opened to the public. While getting ready to take photos, they received a call that Hampshire resident Heather Doty was in labor and on her way there.
When Doty and her family arrived, the hospital staff immediately left the photo opportunity and rushed Doty into the facility to help deliver her baby.
“It was such a great thing that the hospital was ready for us, even before it officially opened,” Doty said. “We were originally planning to have our baby at the McHenry Centegra hospital, but this is just so much more convenient since we live 15 minutes away from here.”
Doty gave birth to her fourth child, Gianna, at 7:02 a.m., just two minutes after the hospital officially opened its doors.
The new, 128-bed facility in Huntley, at 10400 Haligus Road, is only the third new hospital in Illinois to open in more than 35 years. It features a state-of-the-art design with soundproof floors, a made-to-order cafeteria and an enclosed garage for ambulances.
Chief Nursing Officer Peggy Norton-Rosko said the hospital was designed with a focus on patient privacy.
“One of the great features of this hospital is that we have all private rooms,” Norton-Rosko said. “And we have worked really hard to make the design easy for the patient experience, both with privacy and a quiet, healing environment.”
Centegra originally bought the 110-acre property in August 2006 with the purpose of creating a campus that would bring modern health care to the community. In 2010, Centegra Health System filed an application for a Certificate of Need with the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board to build an acute care facility in Huntley. After an initial denial, the board eventually approved the Certificate of Need, and Centegra broke ground on the new hospital in February 2014 with a $233 million budget.
“The campus is unique because it’s right in the middle of a community, and it really has tremendous access points for not only the community members, but also police, fire [departments] and ambulances,” Centegra Health System CEO Michael Eesley said.
The hospital’s campus also is the home of a Centegra Health Bridge Fitness Center and a medical office building that provides Centegra Immediate Care. A second medical office building is under construction and is tentatively scheduled to open in spring 2017.
“Centegra has really created an environment for delivering health care that’s extremely original to a community because it’s a variety of services in one campus,” Eesley said.
The new hospital has two main access points, six private delivery suites, two C-section suites and eight intensive care rooms. Chief Operating Officer Sheila Senn, who transferred to the Huntley location from Centegra Hospital – Woodstock, said Centegra employees were able to give input on the design and development process of the hospital.
“All the different departments have had the opportunity to say and give direction on how things should be set up, which I think is a great way to start a new facility,” Senn said.
Centegra Hospital – Huntley has about 400 employees, with about 60 percent coming from other Centegra locations and the other 40 percent new to the health care provider. Senn said it’s been a busy opening for the staff members, as there already have been a cath lab procedure, several emergency department patients and at least three childbirths.