Hospital officials announced Monday that Sears’ former West Side office will become Rush University Medical Center for outpatient treatment.
The 60,000-square-foot center will be located within the city limits, on North Avenue and Harlem Avenue, where Chicago’s Galewood neighborhood borders Elmwood Park, Oak Park and River Forest parks.
The $70 million center will have 90 examination rooms providing services ranging from emergency and primary care to imaging and diagnostics. Construction is expected to begin in the fall, and the center is expected to open in January 2025.
Dr. Dino Rumoro, CEO of Rush Oak Park Hospital, said that since he became CEO in 2021, he has been looking for a comprehensive outpatient center that would complement the suburban hospital.
“More and more procedures are performed on an outpatient basis, so you don’t need more hospital beds,” he said. “Healthcare has switched to outpatient treatment.”
The first floor of the center will house an emergency department, an X-ray department and a blood collection laboratory; on the two upper floors there will be emergency rooms, which may be closed on weekends. There will be about 200 parking spaces in the center.
Rumoro said they were attracted to this place because it is close to the communities that the hospital already serves, and there is no similar facility nearby.
“When we look at the health care map in this area,” he said, “there is no such universal outpatient center.”
He said they haven’t decided on a name yet and are waiting for state approval to lay the groundwork.
This is the last plan of a long-empty plot. It will be located closer to Wabansia Avenue, one block north of North Avenue. There will be another development on the North Avenue side.