Rush University Medical Center to Construct Advanced Emergency Response Department

Chicago - A new state-of-the-art emergency and disaster preparedness center at Rush University Medical Center on the Near West Side will more than double the size of the hospital’s emergency department and is designed to better care for the victims of major catastrophes.

Gov. Pat Quinn on Tuesday announced a $10 million capital grant to help
construct the McCormick Center for Advanced Emergency Response at Rush, the first of its kind in the United States.
Rush’s McCormick Center for Advanced Emergency Response will occupy the first floor of a new 14-floor hospital building currently under construction, a release from Quinn's office said. The center will house 56 patient treatment bays and an advanced disaster response center. On a day-to-day basis, it will operate as an emergency facility. However,in the event of a disaster, special design and technology advancements will be utilized to better respond to biological, chemical and other catastrophes, according to the release.

The new center will cover more than 40,000 square feet and be capable of handling 65,000 patient visits annually. The center and new hospital building will be located immediately east of Rush's Atrium hospital building located at 1650 W. Congress Parkway.

The new facility will include a specialized airflow system that can isolate areas of the facility from the effects of chemical or biological agents, according to the release. Additionally, every room will have a cardiac monitor and each of three patient treatment pods will have its own ultrasound unit and available bedside point-of-care blood testing.

Radiology will be located within the emergency department to reduce wait times for diagnostic imaging.

The design of the new center includes input from disaster response experts, including military sources, to better prepare it for catastrophic events such as a bioterrorism attack or pandemic flu outbreak. The center is part of Rush’s ten-year campus-wide construction project, called the Rush Transformation.

According to Rush, the campus-wide effort will employ more than 600 construction workers daily during the peak construction period that will continue another 12 months.