Health care in DuPage County is changing in a number of ways.
As the population in DuPage expands and grays, the hospitals and health-care providers are seeing a demand for more health care, said Jon Bruss, chief executive of Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove.
“On the front end of this graying, we see the Baby Boomers consuming more health resources. And on the back end, we have people reaching older ages, facing diseases they might not have had,” Bruss said.
The definition of health has changed too, according to David Fox, president of Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield.
“We see our mission as helping to keep people healthy–not just repairing people when they get medical problems and find their way into a hospital,” he said.
Leo F. Fronza, president and chief executive officer of Elmhurst Memorial Healthcare, noted other important trends. They are an increased need for outpatient care as advances in medicine allow more procedures to be done on an outpatient basis; a growing demand from patients for information about their care; and a heightened interest from business, government and consumers in the efficient delivery of health services.
Hospitals in the county are meeting these challenges in innovative ways. They are changing the way they deliver services, using new technology, identifying some hospitals as anchors of larger health-care systems, and forging new relationships in the community.
One way to make health care more efficient is simply to provide more of it. From the most delicate heart surgery to advanced cancer treatment, medical procedures that used to be referred to medical centers in Chicago are now handled in the suburbs.
In the last year, Level III special-care nurseries have opened in Hinsdale Hospital and Good Samaritan; they can handle the sickest babies and premature infants.
“Travel is an important issue for mothers who need to visit, and sometimes breast feed, their newborns,” Bruss said.
At the other end of life, hospice care, which once was commonly contracted out, now is almost universally offered within the suburban hospital systems, according to Laura Ferris, vice president of Continuum of Care at Elmhurst Memorial Healthcare.
Hospitals are becoming creative in devising ways to improve their delivery of services.
Provena Mercy Center of Aurora has organized its hospital into “centers for excellence,” areas of the hospital that bring together specialized expertise to bear on a medical problem. The Sister Rita Heart Center, for example, offers services that range from the most complex heart surgery and latest diagnostic services, such as open-heart surgery and diagnostic catheterization, to rehabilitation and education, including links to the Fox Valley Mall Walkers and classes in stress management.
Edward Hospital is organized into many free-standing facilities.
“Edward is in the process of changing its identity from Edward Hospital to Edward Health Service,” spokesman Brian Davis said.
With the hospital acting as an anchor, Edward provides specialized services at its nine centers, including the Cardiovascular Institute and Center for Surgery.
Central DuPage is bringing more services out of the hospital and into the community with its five convenient-care centers.
They have laboratory and X-ray facilities on site and work with people to assure continuity of care, referring them back to their primary care physicians or helping them find one, Fox said.
Elmhurst Memorial’s new Center for Health brings a half-dozen facilities for outpatient care under one roof. Physicians offices and the Elmhurst Clinic occupy upper floors. Diagnostic imaging, ambulatory surgery and physical/occupational therapy are among the services offered on the first floor in an atmosphere designed to promote comfort and ease of access.
The Center for Health includes a resource center, where, along with a selected medical reference library, there are computers available that are connected to the Internet. For those who wish to explore sources on their own, the computers can link patients who have questions to reliable sources of information, such as the National Institutes of Health or the American Lung Association. For those less comfortable with the computer, the resource center has a nurse/educator available 30 hours a week to guide the search for information.
“We have a highly educated population that comes into the doctor’s office armed with their research from the Internet,” Edward’s Davis said.
The Internet is not the only way technology is offering better access to information. Patients in Good Samaritan’s Diagnostic Breast Center are able to obtain rapidly results of tests through a telephone link using a special code. Physicians are able to use a special secure intranet link to share patient information quickly, Bruss said.
Hospitals across DuPage and eastern Kane Counties also are addressing the changing definition of health through education and prevention.
Elmhurst Memorial has a health-education center in Villa Park, where programs such as senior exercise, a physicians lecture series and community meetings are held. Besides health screenings and education programs, Edward offers a speakers bureau. Central DuPage’s Fox estimated his hospital offers hundreds of educational programs each year on topics such as diabetes, smoking and hypertension.
Hospitals are focusing on a holistic definition of health that is more than the absence of disease. Many hospitals and health systems now include fitness centers that offer a medical approach to fitness and wellness, with rehabilitation services for cardiac patients and guided help in achieving goals such as improved fitness and weight loss.
Good Samaritan just completed a new fitness center on its campus. The fitness center, open to the community at large as well as patients of Good Samaritan, addresses fitness issues through a combination of education and physical training. It is staffed by hospital personnel.
Edward offers two health-and-fitness centers. Elmhurst’s new Center for Health also has a fitness center.
“We offer classes on nutrition, counseling and physical therapy,” Good Samaritan’s Bruss said. “A focus on healthy people maintaining their wellness is very important to their overall quality of life.”
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For more information on:
– Central DuPage Hospital, call 630-933-1600, e-mail information@cdhs.org or visit the Web site at www.cdh.org.
– Edward Hospital, call 630-355-0450, e-mail
contactus@edward.org or visit the Web site at www.edwards.org.
– Good Samaritan, call 630-275-5900 or visit the Web site at www.advocatehealth.com.
– Elmhurst Memorial, call 630-833-1400 or visit the Web site at www.emhs.com.
– Provena Mercy Center, call 630-859-2222, e-mail information@provenamercy or visit the Web site at www.provenamercy.com.
– Hinsdale Hospital, call 630-856-9000 or visit the Web site at www.hinsdalehospital.org.
For information on:
– GlenOaks Hospital, call 630-545-8000 or visit the Web site at www.glenoaks.org.
– Rush-Copley Medical Center, call 630-978-6200 or visit the Web site at www.rushcopley.com.
