When Verna Danegger was given a choice of traveling to a Chicago hospital for her surgery or using Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights, it was an easy decision.
Danegger, who operated a pastry shop in Arlington Heights with her husband, Charles, for years, was familiar with Northwest Community Hospital. She also knew the nurses and they knew her.
“There’s something soothing about that,” Charles Danegger said.
It is that nurturing ambience that helped the hospital earn a first-place award for innovative hospital design from the American Society of Interior Designers last June. The first-place honors went to Ethel Nemetz of Design Associates Inc. for the design concept. The award was bestowed at the Illinois Design Competition 2000 last June.
The hospital’s North Pavilion, a two-year-old addition, houses a patient welcoming center, surgical suites and the critical-care unit. It is a place that promotes a healing environment throughout and in a way, serves as a symbol of the hospital’s mission: To keep the well-being of everyone who enters the doors in mind. It also is where the Danegger family gathered last month while Verna Danegger was in surgery.
The pavilion features plenty of natural light. The main waiting lounge contains comfortable tub chairs and couches. On the ground floor, water gurgles over a set of granitelike rocks around the corner from individual check-in booths for patients. At times, a grand piano automatically plays musical compositions by Mozart, Schubert or Tchaikovsky. The hallways are named after streets in neighboring communities, such as Schaumburg Lane and Mt. Prospect Boulevard, to help visitors navigate through unfamiliar surroundings. The Village Cafe was opened to serve those waiting.
“Our healing environment design shows that our care for the patient goes well beyond what they may receive medically,” Kathy Reno said of the design change that took shape after a series of visits to hospitals across the country, long before blueprints for the North Pavilion were drawn.
“This can be one of the most stressful times for families, so we wanted to create an environment that provided a family with support in those times,” said Reno, the chief operating officer of Northwest Community Healthcare, the umbrella organization that includes the hospital.
Family members are given pagers so they don’t have to stay glued to a chair to avoid missing a medical update from an attending physician.
Out went visitation rules. In rolled a recliner for a patient or a guest to use in individual rooms, which are situated around nursing stations.
Lockers were installed, so belongings didn’t have to be lugged around.
Kitchens were set up in the critical-care area for family members.
And the patient counts began to rise.
“We have gotten wonderful feedback from families,” Reno said.
An oncology floor just opened using the same concepts.
First-rate health care for the residents of Arlington Heights and other northwest suburban communities has been the mission of the health-care organization for more than 40 years, said Bruce Crowther, president and chief executive officer.
“Today, Northwest Community continues to stand out from the rest in state-of-the-art programs, services, facilities and technology that put us at the leading edge of medical care, and in the personal, supportive touch offered by our outstanding medical staff, employees and volunteers.”
The hospital, an independent, full-service medical center with 563 beds, is located on a 36-acre campus in Arlington Heights that also houses the Day Surgery Center and Wellness Center.
The health-care organization also operates three 24-Hour Treatment Centers–in Schaumburg, Lake Zurich and Buffalo Grove– that function both as emergency departments and full-service clinics for the uninsured.
The centers were established in 1980, 1982 and 1991, respectively, to provide convenient and responsive care for a variety of conditions requiring quick medical attention, as well as fill a community need. Each is a full-service facility with an onsite laboratory, X-ray capabilities and mammography services. The health-care organization operates six medical offices and manages the Buffalo Grove Park District Fitness Center.
Last April it expanded upon its community approach to wellness and health care when the Northeast Palatine Community Center and VISTA Health Center opened in collaboration with 13 other agencies. These agencies, which came together as part of a healthier community initiative called Vision in Progress, include various community agencies and departments, including the police department, school district, Harper College, public library and senior citizens council.
The hospital has been recognized by various health-care organizations for excellence in cancer care, cardiac care, emergency medicine, orthopedics and women’s and children’s services.
One innovative procedure now being performed is stereotactic radiosurgery. This form of surgery, conducted with breakthrough equipment marketed as BrainLAB, enables physicians to deliver a precise dose of radiation treatment to tumors or lesions within the brain, including areas that otherwise would not be accessible. The hospital is one of the first in the Midwest to use this technology.
In cardiac care, the hospital recently was named one of the top 100 heart hospitals in the nation by the HCIA-Sachs Institute, a nationally recognized consulting firm that provides health-care-related information to providers, employers and pharmaceutical companies. The hospital’s distinction is from the institute’s Cardiovascular Benchmarks for Success study, which focused on more than 6,000 acute-care and specialty hospitals nationwide.
This year, steps will be taken to install a third catheter laboratory and equipment for electro-physiology studies.
Dr. Richard Levy, an obstetrician and also the president of Northwest Community Healthcare, chalked up another medical milestone last June when he became the first physician in the country to use an Oxifirst fetal oxygen-monitoring system to safely deliver a baby and avoid a Caesarean section. The sensor transmits vital information that the baby is doing well, even though the fetal heart rate may indicate otherwise.
“This unique piece of equipment allows us to avoid a Caesarean section when the baby’s fetal heart rate may have indicated that it was a necessary procedure in the past,” Levy said.
The technological advances, as well as the hospital’s commitment to wellness, carries into the community.
The health-care organization has participated in or been a catalyst in several healthy-community initiatives. They include cardiopulmonary resuscitation training for 2,000 people in Arlington Heights and an anti-smoking campaign targeted at teens in Rolling Meadows.
Through its community-clinic initiative, primary health-care services are provided to the medically underserved at neighborhood clinics.
Last spring, the Northeast Palatine Community Center and VISTA Health Center opened to serve the working poor, uninsured and Medicaid population living in and around Palatine. Physicians and support staffs are provided through the Cook County Bureau of Health Services’ Ambulatory Care Division. The health-care organization provides the space, equipment, medical supplies and one staff member.
“It’s been gangbusters” at the Palatine health center, said Ron Buch, director of community services. “We’ve seen more people in eight months than we planned on seeing for an entire year–5,000 people with all kinds of ailments.” The Rolling Meadows clinic opened in 1996 as part of a partnership between the health-care organization and various community agencies after hospital workers reported seeing children in the emergency room with no evidence of immunizations or health care. At the time, a group of physicians who were getting ready to retire decided to volunteer their services to stay connected. The clinic still is staffed by volunteer doctors and two paid nurses.
The Mount Prospect clinic opened in 1998 after the health-care organization and Alexian Brothers Medical Center in Elk Grove Village agreed to share services to reach an underserved population living between the two medical facilities.
“In addition to taking pressure off the emergency rooms, we feel we have added value to the community,” Buch said.
“First, we think there’s been reduction in absenteeism in school and in the workplace. Second, we are providing specialty care to people who may have gotten into major, life-threatening situations without it. Third, the citizens have a better-organized health delivery system.”
In some cases, patients also get jobs.
Buch said some clients have been approached recently to perform contractual services for the hospital, such as janitorial work. One family man, a former landscape laborer, was asked last fall to think about getting into the snow-removal business. He agreed, Buch said, and this winter’s snowfall gave him a boost. Wellness also transcends into fitness.
Last year, the health-care organization teamed with the Buffalo Grove Park District to manage a fitness center in that town that provides a safe workout environment for those recovering from a medical illness or injury, as well as activities and programs for people of all fitness levels and interests.
The fitness center has 4,000 members and has been well-received, said Jeff Newkirk, director of Wellness Center Services for the health-care organization.
“We try to provide a pro-active approach to health and wellness and reach out to the community,” he said.
The health-care organization’s comprehensive fitness philosophy has trickled down from the Wellness Center, the full-service health and physical therapy facility that opened in 1996.
Today, this center has about 5,000 members. Thirty percent have never been a health-club member before joining here and 15 percent are recovering from some kind of medical situation, such as surgery, a heart attack or stroke.
Like the North Pavilion, the Wellness Center has a soothing environment:
There’s a palm tree in the lobby. Colorful banners are suspended from the ceiling and fiber art decorates the walls. There also are warm-water therapy pools.All for the benefit of members like John and Rose Gaughan, who are huddling with other members to talk about their progress or chitchat about their day.
NORTHWEST COMMUNITY HOSPITAL
The facts
563-bed hospital
Three 24-hour treatment centers
Same-day outpatient surgery center
Home health-care services
Wellness Center
Fitness Center
700+ physicians
3,300+ employees
800 volunteers annually provide 120,000 hours of service to the hospital and its centers
Annually provides more than $17 million in charitable and uncompensated care in the form of financing for local health initiatives, free health education programs, health screenings, support groups, community wellness programs and neighborhood clinic services
Nearly 30 health support groups and more than 50 community wellness or fitness programs
Patients cared for annually
20,000 inpatients
255,000 outpatient visits (includes the hospital trauma center and the three treatment centers)
16,000 inpatient and outpatient surgical cases
2,500 newborn deliveries
44,000 home-care visits
Source: Northwest Commu-nity Healthcare, 2001
NORTHWEST COMMUNITY HEALTHCARE
Northwest Community Hospital
Address: 800 W. Central Rd., Arlington Heights
Telephone: 847-618-1000
Web site: www.nch.org
24-hour Treatment Centers
Buffalo Grove: 15 S. McHenry Rd.; 847-459-6100
Lake Zurich: 1201 S. Rand Rd.; 847-540-8088
Schaumburg: 519 S. Roselle Rd.; 847-985-0600
Medical offices
Arlington Heights: 605 and 675 W. Central Rd.; 847-618-3463
Buffalo Grove: 125 E. Lake-Cook Rd.; 847-618-3463
Lake Zurich: 1225 S. Rand Rd.; 847-618-3463
Palatine: 500 N. Hicks Rd.; 847-618-3463
Schaumburg: 455 S. Roselle Rd.; 847-618-3463
Other facilities and resources
Adult Day Center: 901 W. Kirchoff Rd., Arlington Heights; 847-618-3463
Buffalo Grove Fitness Center: 601 W. Deerfield Pkwy., Buffalo Grove; owned by the Buffalo Grove Park District and managed by Northwest Community Healthcare; 847-353-8701
Day Surgery Center: 675 W. Kirchoff Rd., Arlington Heights; 847-618-7060
HealthConnection: free physician referral service and referral center for wellness and fitness programs offered by Northwest Community Healthcare; 847-618-FIND(3463)
Northeast Palatine Community Center: includes the Vista Health Center; 1585 Rand Rd., Palatine; 847-776-9500
Northwest Community Healthcare Wellness Center: 900 W. Central Rd., Arlington Heights; 847-618-3500
Northwest Community Home Healthcare Services: 3060 Salt Creek Lane, Suite 110, Arlington Heights; 847-618-7800
Web site: www.nch.org
Source: Northwest Community Healthcare, 2001
COMMUNITY EVENTS
The Northwest Community Hospital Auxiliary hosts several fund-raising events annually. Events scheduled for 2001, at Northwest Community Hospital, 800 W. Central Rd., Arlington Heights, include:
Jewelry sale: April 19-20.
Book sale: May 10-11.
Fashion show: Nov. 2; to benefit the new pediatric Emergency Department.
Other annual community and fund-raising events or activities include:
Free blood pressure screenings: 9 a.m. to noon Tuesdays at the Northwest Community Healthcare Wellness Center, 900 W. Central Rd., Arlington Heights, and 24-Hour Treatment Centers at 19 S. Roselle Rd. in Schaumburg and at 201 S. Rand Rd. in Lake Zurich. Walk-ins welcome.
Kid’s Health Fair: March 10 at the hospital; co-sponsored by Children’s Memorial Hospital, Chicago.
4th Annual Golf Classic: May 21 at Medinah Country Club, 6001 Medinah Rd.; a fundraising event sponsored by the Northwest Community Healthcare Foundation.
American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life: May 11-12 at Arlington Park; co-sponsored by Northwest Community Healthcare.
4th of July Parade: July 4; the hospital sponsors a float in the Arlington Heights parade.
Hal Dots Golf Outing: Aug. 10; location to be announced; a fundraising event for the hospital.
American Heart Association’s Heart Walk: Sept. 16 walk-a-thon in Rolling Meadows; co-sponsored by the hospital.
Labor Day Parade: September, dates to be announced; Northwest Community Healthcare sponsors a float in the Schaumburg and Buffalo Grove parades.
For more information call 847-618-5516. Or visit the Web site at www.nch.org; it contains information about some of the upcoming events.
— Compiled by Debra Gruszecki
