Press Release
Elmhurst Memorial Healthcare 'tops off' new hospital building
For immediate release, April 16, 2009
Contact
Kyle Bauer, Public Relations Coordinator, 630-993-5702
ELMHURST – After less than one year and more than 7,500 tons of material, the steel structure forming the new Elmhurst Memorial Hospital is complete. On April 16, the building was officially “topped off” when the final steel beam was hoisted into place.
“This marks an important milestone in the construction of the new Elmhurst Memorial Hospital,” said Leo Fronza, Elmhurst Memorial Healthcare (EMHC) President/CEO. “I would like to thank the members of the construction team who have worked so hard over the past year to get this framework in place.”
Construction on the 866,000-square-foot new hospital building, which is located near the corner of York and Roosevelt Roads in Elmhurst, began in May 2008. With 259 private patient rooms, it will be the centerpiece of a 50-acre medical campus that is scheduled to open in fall 2011. The acute care hospital will be connected to the existing Elmhurst Memorial Center for Health as well as two proposed new medical office buildings, bringing inpatient care, a full array of outpatient services and a variety of physician offices together in one convenient location.
With the steel structure in place, work to enclose the building with more than 1 million bricks is now underway. By the end of 2009, the Prairie-style exterior is expected to be completed as the focus shifts to creating the inviting interior elements.
“While we still have a lot of work to accomplish over the next two years, this milestone is certainly something to celebrate,” Fronza said.
As part of the construction industry tradition of Topping Off, members of the project team and EMHC employees, physicians and volunteers were invited to sign the beam. Three generations of the Bates family joined Fronza and Joel Herter, Chairman of the EMHC Board of Trustees, as the first to put their signatures on this historic project.
Representing the Bates family was Joan Bates, the wife of Alben “Pete” Bates, whose father was a community leader who helped advance the plans to open the original hospital in 1926. Joan Bates is also the daughter of Dr. Joseph Crabtree, who was president of the Hospital’s medical staff in 1937. She signed the beam with her daughter, Josephine Bates Prasil, and grandchildren, Victoria and Matt Prasil.