Geneva approves large addition to Delnor Cancer Center

The Geneva City Council voted to approve a 15,570 square foot addition to the Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital Cancer Center during the Feb. 7th City Council meeting.

“[The expansion] will accommodate addition for medical procedures as demand for services has increased,” said Geneva City Administrator Stephanie Dawkins. “Overall, the expansion fits within the current regulations governing the facility and the hospital campus.”

The request came after Northwestern Memorial HealthCare acquired a 5-acre parcel on Keslinger Road between Delnor Drive and Fisher Drive, and a 2.3 acre parcel on the southeast corner of Williamsburg Avenue and Fisher Drive, according to meeting documents.

The existing 35,034 square foot Delnor Cancer Center was built in 2012.

“I would like to note that the Planning and Zoning commission unanimously recommended approval of the proposed amendments to the boundaries of the Fisher Farms and the Delnor Community PUD’s, and site plan approval for the expansion of the cancer center at their meeting on Jan. 13,” Dawkins said.

The Delnor Cancer Center Expansion is the 18th in a series of approved Planned Unit Development updates to the hospital campus dating back to 2003.

“Most of the work you’re looking at is happening in the south,” said architect Goran Vukovljak at the Jan. 13 Geneva Planning and Zoning commission meeting. “We’re not necessarily touching anything north of Randall Road.”

The expansion would include 17 new infusion bays, 19 new oncology exam rooms and an overall pharmacy expansion and renovation, Vukovljak said.

Alderman Dean Kilburg raised a concern about potential impact on expansion’s potential impact on road accessibility.

“I believe several years ago the parcel along Keslinger, there was some discussion as it related to the development of that parcel,” Kilburg said. “There were concerns over a curb cut and accessibility.”

“About ten years ago now, it was the Meadowbrook Manor nursing home facility that was proposed there,” said Director of Community Development David DeGroot. “At the time they were negotiating with the hospital to allow for interconnection to Delnor for a secondary emergency access. That project has obviously not been constructed, and now the parcel has been acquired by the hospital.”

“I can imagine a right in, right out being allowed in a similar fashion that was approved ten years ago,” DeGroot said.

A starting date for the construction was not given.