Sixty-year-old Nancie Kruszewski of Niles knows the value of an emergency and trauma center. On April 22, of this year, she arrived by ambulance at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital having a stroke. It was the type of stroke that 90% of victims don’t survive. But, the physicians and other caregivers at this Comprehensive Stroke and Level I Trauma Center knew exactly what to do quickly and saved Nancie’s life. Today, she is back to normal activities with minimal deficits.
Nancie will be among those participating in the ribbon cutting for The Simms Family Emergency and Trauma Center on Thursday, June 24, 2015 at 10:00 a.m. at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital and Advocate Children’s Hospital—Park Ridge. The celebration marks the completion of an 18-month, $40-million expansion project, which significantly increases the capacity of both the adult and pediatric emergency departments. The center will open for patients on June 30, 2015.
The first major construction project on the Dempster Street campus in almost six years, the center is named to honor the generosity of the Simms Family of Park Ridge. The local family has donated over $5-million dollars to the hospital in the past 50 years.
The new emergency and trauma center has 40 private treatment rooms. The expansion includes thirteen additional rooms to meet the growing need for services in the community.
“Our clinical leaders were intimately involved in the design of the new space for the ED,“ says Douglas Propp, Chair of Emergency Medicine. “The work space optimizes open communication and collaboration. In addition the use of natural light creates a warm and friendly environment, hopefully appreciated by all. The treatment areas have been created to best meet the needs of our patients and their loved ones. We intended to create the safest setting to support our staff in providing exceptional, compassionate healthcare. I believe we have succeeded.”
For Advocate Children’s Hospital-Park Ridge, the new pediatric emergency department provides a kid-friendly environment for its specialized care. With a Pediatric Critical Care Center designation from the State of Illinois, it is the only center of its kind between downtown Chicago, Rockford and Wisconsin. The designation reflects the highest level of pediatric critical care and emergency care to meet the unique needs of children.
Sixteen-year-old Kathryn Jankowski, needed those services in February 2015. When her mother brought her to the emergency room, the pediatric staff recognized immediately that she was severely dehydrated, in shock and critically ill. Diagnosed with toxic shock syndrome, the sophomore at Taft High School in Chicago, was admitted to Advocate Children’s Hospital-Park Ridge the same day, treated aggressively and she beat this life-threatening condition within a week. Now healthy, Kathryn will share in cutting the ribbon and her experience highlights the importance of a specially designated children’s emergency department.
About Advocate Lutheran General Hospital- Advocate Lutheran General Hospital is the premier academic referral hospital for northwest Chicago and north Chicagoland. The 638-bed research hospital offers the most advanced care in its Level I trauma center (the highest level), Cardiovascular, Orthopedic, Advanced Surgery, Oncology and Neuroscience institutes. Lutheran General Hospital has been rated 16 times a 100 Top Hospital® by Truven Health Analytics and was the first hospital in the area to be awarded the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s prestigious Magnet designation. In addition, it is one of only 30 hospitals in the nation to achieve exemplary outcomes for surgical patient care by the American College of Surgeon’s National Surgical Quality Improvement Program. Located on the campus of Lutheran General Hospital is Advocate Children's Hospital - Park Ridge, one of the 10 largest children's hospitals in the country.
Lutheran General Hospital is part of Advocate Health Care, based in Oak Brook, Illinois, which is the largest health care provider in the state and one of the nation’s top health care systems.
About Advocate Children’s Hospital As part of Advocate Health Care, Advocate Children’s Hospital is the largest network provider of pediatric services in Illinois and among the top 10 in the nation. The two main campuses are located in the Chicago metropolitan region – Oak Lawn in the southwest and Park Ridge in the northwest, with additional services accessible at other Advocate hospitals throughout the state. Advocate Children’s Hospital serves as a major referral center for infants and children. Through a special, wholistic approach, Advocate Children’s Hospital combines some of the country’s most respected medical talent with exceptional and compassionate care. In fact, the children’s hospital has been recognized by U.S. News & World Report as one of the nation’s leaders in pediatric cardiology and neonatology, and numerous physicians have been cited as being among the “Top Doctors” regionally and nationally in their respective fields. Advocate Children’s Hospital is staffed by more than 400 pediatricians and 230 pediatric subspecialists who offer a wide range of services for children.