As part of an ongoing commitment to transform, preserve and sustain evolving health care along the entire I-80 corridor, OSF HealthCare plans to build a new inpatient hospital in Ottawa, Ill.

OSF HealthCare intends to file a Certificate of Need (CON) application with the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board to build a new inpatient hospital facility to replace the current one in Ottawa. The new hospital will be built across the street, south of East Norris Drive (Route 6), on a vacant 31-acre plot of OSF-owned land. The current OSF HealthCare Saint Elizabeth Medical Center was built in the early 1970s and is at the end of its useful life with infrastructure challenges necessitating this decision.

“Over the past decade, OSF HealthCare has sustained and grown quality health care services in and around Ottawa,” says August Querciagrossa, CEO of the Western Region for OSF HealthCare. “When the new hospital is built, it will be reimagined as levels and types of services offered are realigned throughout the I-80 corridor. Our intent across all our I-80 communities is to ensure current and future generations have access to care locally.”

OSF HealthCare expects to submit the application to the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board by the end of March with approval for the new facility anticipated by the end of 2024. A tentative opening date is expected in late 2027.

This is a multi-year plan centered on the following future-state services.

OSF Saint Elizabeth – Ottawa Campus

The new hospital will be designed with the patient at the center of the care model. OSF Saint Elizabeth-Ottawa will have a 26-bed inpatient behavioral health unit, 12 medical/surgical beds, and a state-of-the-art surgery suite, emergency services, diagnostic imaging, and robust outpatient care services. Primary and specialty care clinics, including cardiovascular care, general surgery and OB/GYN, will continue to provide services in Ottawa.

OSF is committed to growing and expanding cancer care through the Fox River Cancer Center as part of the continuum/network with the OSF Cancer Institute in Peoria and the Patricia D. Pepe Center for Cancer Care at OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center in Rockford. In addition, rehab services will be moving to the newly constructed YMCA this spring.

OSF Saint Elizabeth – Peru Campus

Due to its central location, OSF Saint Elizabeth-Peru will serve as the hub hospital within the I-80 corridor and support a full range of inpatient and outpatient services. This includes 45 medical/surgical beds, 8 ICU rooms, 11 obstetric rooms to support the regional birthing center, surgery and procedure rooms, emergency services, diagnostic imaging and robust outpatient care services.

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