Kishwaukee Community Hospital plans to spend $100 million to build a new facility.

The 100-bed hospital will be located west of Sycamore Road at Gateway Drive on 23 acres of land already owned by the hospital.

Construction of the new facility begins summer 2005 and is expected to take two years.

Building a new facility instead of adding on horizontally or building a patient tower would help control operating costs, said KCH Administrator Brad Copple.

“We cannot build up because the current hospital does not have adequate weight-bearing capability,” Copple said.

The new hospital will have more advanced technology, including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), in-patient dialysis and cardiac catheterization, said Community Relations Director Sharon Emanuelson.

A medical office building will also be attached to the main lobby to provide office space for physicians and hospital support staff, she said.

A brand new facility has been in the planning stages for quite some time.

“The decision to build a new hospital in the same vicinity builds on the vision and strategic planning of community leaders from more than 35 years ago,” Copple said.

The replacement would allow the health system to better serve the needs of the community by adding services, improving privacy and safety and by recruiting more specialists, he said.

Sixty percent of the money to finance the project will come from mortgage tax-exempt bonds. The rest will come from cash reserves, ongoing operations and a community capital campaign.

Having a high credit ranking will also make it easier to finance the project. The hospital has received a preliminary credit assessment consistent with an A-rated organization.

“The better interest rate will save us millions of dollars. One estimate is at least $500,000 a year,” said Kevin Poorten, Kishwaukee Health system president and CEO. “We are very pleased.”

There is still some administrative paper work to take care of before the new hospital breaks ground.

“The Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board has deemed our Certificate of Need application complete,” Emanuelson said. “We anticipate the application will be on its June agenda and that the board will conduct a public hearing in the community some time before that.”