January 28, 2009

BroMenn Construction Receives State Approval

BroMenn Healthcare's plans for replacing and modernizing a portion of their BroMenn Regional Medical Center campus were approved by the State of Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board at the board's January meeting in Chicago.

The Planning Board approved a certificate of need for BroMenn's plans to construct a 79,000 square-foot patient tower on the Normal medical center's west side.  Under Illinois law, BroMenn was required to receive a certificate of need before construction could begin on the project.  BroMenn's 166-page application was submitted to the Planning Board in early October.  The application gave a detailed overview of the project, including building plans, cost analyses, history, statistical information, explanations as to why the project is needed, and letters of support.  The application wasn't expected to be voted on by the Planning Board until their March meeting, but was moved up to the January meeting date due to a lighter-than-anticipated agenda.

The patient tower will house new Critical Care and Mother/Baby units, replacing existing units built 30-40 years ago.  The units will feature warm, comfortable designs that will efficiently facilitate personalized, contemporary caregiving practices in state-of-the-art private rooms.

BroMenn hopes to begin construction later this year, with completion expected sometime in 2011.