By Bob Susnjara
The Chicago Daily Herald
GRAYSLAKE, Ill. — Those needing emergency-room treatment for non-traumatic medical problems in the Grayslake area won’t have to travel as far anymore.
Lake Forest Hospital’s free-standing emergency center is now open for business near routes 120 and 45 in Grayslake. Formerly known as an acute-care center, the facility will be open 24 hours a day and began accepting ambulances this week.
As the first free-standing emergency center in Lake County, it meets the same occupancy, physical plan and construction requirements as hospital ERs.
Grayslake Fire Protection District Deputy Chief Greg Formica said 35 percent to 45 percent of patients with non-life-threatening injuries who wind up in ambulances annually could be handled at the emergency center.
Not only will the facility allow for quicker treatment of patients with injuries, such as broken bones, but it also will allow for ambulances to be back in service faster, Formica said Wednesday. He said it could take 20 to 45 minutes for a one-way ride to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville, one of the closest hospitals to Grayslake.
“It really is a benefit to everybody in the community,” Formica said.
Patients with broken bones, food poisoning and influenza will be among the cases seen at the Grayslake emergency facility. Dr. Jack Franaszek, the emergency center’s medical director, said about four ambulances have brought in patients for treatment this week.
“If they’re real, real sick, we’ll stabilize them and get them where they need to be,” Franaszek said.
A helipad at the site can be used to transfer patients with critical needs to trauma centers such as Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago and Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee.
Lake Forest Hospital’s Grayslake facility came through a state law enacted in 2008 that allowed acute-care centers to take on non-trauma
emergency patients. The facility was built in the wake of hospital proposals for Lake Villa and Lindenhurst that fizzled.
Board-certified emergency doctors and trauma-certified nurses from Lake Forest Hospital will staff the Grayslake center. The facility has 14 emergency treatment beds and services ranging from advanced diagnostic imaging to physical therapy.
The Grayslake facility is one of three free-standing emergency centers approved in the state, said Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board spokeswoman Kelly Jakubek.
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