University of Chicago is proposing a $36 million emergency room upgrade that would relocate its emergency room for adults, in part because thousands of patients leave without being treated because of long waits, according to an article on the Crain's Chicago Business website.
The hospital applied to the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board seeking permission to build a new emergency department closer to the university's new hospital building on its Hyde Park campus.
The project would increase the number of beds to 42 from 36 to help increase efficiency. The new plan would also add an additional entrance and would almost double the department's square footage.
Vikas Ghayal, executive director of emergency services, said the department has undergone several expansions and renovations. But the current space in a 30-year-old building is so outdated and small that it would cost $3 million more to upgrade it than to build a whole new facility.
The new structure would be located across the street and to the north of the main hospital. The structures would be connected by a tunnel and second-floor bridge, according to the proposal, the article said.
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