Proposed $389 Million Lake Forest Hospital Expansion Adds 96 New Beds

LAKE FOREST, IL — Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital officials formally asked state regulators to sign off on a proposed expansion that would nearly double the number of beds in the hospital and cost almost $389 million.

Last week, Lake Forest Hospital representatives filed an application with the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board laying out the case for adding 84 new surgical beds and 12 new intensive care beds.

When completed, the expansion will bring the total number of surgical beds to 168 and the number of ICU beds to 24 for a total of 210 beds, according to the application.

The proposal also includes the expansion of the emergency department and modernization of other spaces in the hospital, which opened in 2018.

Speaking at a Lake Forest City Council meeting in January, Seamus Collins, the hospital's vice president of operations, said he anticipated groundbreaking on a parking garage expansion could begin by the start of 2023.

"We're very excited to begin this journey to continue what's been a very successful partnership with the Lake Forest community to bring this expanded capability to the city," Collins said.

Hospital officials said the goal of the project is to bring the number of inpatients back to target levels, reduce hold times in the emergency room and eliminate the need to bypass the ER and send patients to other hospitals.

In the six months prior to the February 2020 outbreak of the COVID-19 virus in Illinois, the hospital was operating at 107 percent capacity.

And without the additional beds, average occupancy will remain above 100 percent capacity and the hospital will be unable to accommodate demand from patients, according to the application.

The proposal calls for the addition of two new pavilions at the south end of the crescent-shaped main hospital building.

Among the factors driving more patients into Lake Forest Hospital are increased access to specialty care — meaning fewer people have to travel to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago for treatment — and the closure of the emergency room at Vista West Hospital in the months prior to the opening of the new Lake Forest Hospital, the application said.

According to hospital officials, data shows more than 40 percent of emergency room visits at Lake Forest Hospital are patients who live more than 10 miles away. And charity care at Lake Forest hospital was double that of any other hospital in the Lake County, and the rate of increase of the number of patients with Medicaid was also the highest in the county.

Requests for hearings on the project must be received by the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board by Jan. 2. Anyone who wants to submit written comments must do so by April 19, a staff report will be available April 24 and consideration by the board is tentatively scheduled for May 9.

Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital President Thomas McAfee expressed confidence that state regulators would support the expansion and see the need for additional capacity.

"We we take into consideration the changing demographics, our market shift and overall forecasted volumes for what we do, it'll continue to press us," McAfee told the City Council earlier this year. "So the good news is the early indication is that given our utilization we should be able to justify these incremental beds that we'll be asking for."