Salem Township Hospital has completed Phase One of its three phase renovation and expansion project. After the Illinois Department of Public Health gave its approval to the renovated area of the former Rural Health Clinic, Hospital CEO Jim Timpe says it has become the temporary home ofthe emergency room.
“Phase two is taking where we’re taking the existing Emergency Room and part of the surgery where the same day surgery was and we’re doing demolition in there. Because of that also impacting surgery same day surgery which is where you start and finish your case when you’re awake. That is taking place in our med surge unit in a closed off area of the med surge unit in five rooms, so same amount of rooms they had.”
Timpe says you can continue to enter the emergency room from the rear of the hospital as always, and will just turn a different direction once inside.
In Phase Three, the emergency room will move back to its old but expanded location and same day surgery will move into the area that was formerly rural health. The final part of the project will also include adding two more operating rooms and knocking out the wall between the emergency room and the new addition that will be used for sterilization of equipment. The entire project is expected to be completed in August 2027.
The hospital finished above budget for the first month of the new fiscal year in April. Over $62,000 in charity care was provided during the month. The hospital had an overall patient satisfaction score of 91 percent in April, about the yearlong patient satisfaction goal of 89-percent.
