LINDENHURST - The plan to build a new hospital in Lindenhurst is inching closer to reality.
The Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board voted unanimously at its meeting on Sept. 17 to review modified hospital plans from Vista Health Systems. The board will review the plans during its meeting on Dec. 16.
During the September meeting, Barbara Martin, president and chief operating officer of Vista Health System, outlined Vista's modified plans that call for a smaller, less costly hospital. The modified plans address earlier questions from the planning board about the proposed Lindenhurst hospital.
State statistics show that while there is one hospital bed for every 360 resident across Illinois, in Lake County there is one authorized bed for every 2,462 residents.
Martin said in a release that Vista's plans for a hospital in Lindenhurst would help ensure access to health-care access to Lake County residents.
"Whether looking at Illinois, the United States, other industrialized countries, or even some emerging nations, this ratio appears to be low. In a nutshell, we believe this is compelling evidence of mal-distribution of hospital beds in the planning area," Martin said.
The number of beds at the proposed hospital has yet to be determined, but the number is expected to be somewhere between the 100 beds in the modified proposal and the 140 beds originally proposed, officials said.
Vista Health System is a network of Vista Medical Center. The site for the proposed hospital is on the corner of Grand Avenue and Deep Lake Road in Lindenhurst.
