Emergency Center gets ambulance OK

Grayslake facility now takes life-support patients

GRAYSLAKE -- The Lake Forest Hospital Grayslake Emergency Center is accepting basic life-support patients by ambulance.

Lake Forest Hospital recently received its licensure with the Illinois Department of Public Health after having received state approval for a freestanding emergency center last November.

As an FEC, the former acute care center meets the same physical plan, occupancy and construction requirements as hospital-based emergency departments.

The facility at 1475 E. Belvidere Road reopened Oct. 11 with its new name and is the county's first FEC.

"Now northwest Lake County residents can receive the emergency care they need without having to travel unnecessary distances," said Thomas McAfee, president and CEO of Lake Forest Hospital.

The facility has a helipad, which can be used to transfer critical- needs patients to trauma centers like Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago and Froedtert Memorial Hospital in Milwaukee.

Board-certified emergency physicians and trauma-certified nurses from Lake Forest Hospital staff the facility. The center features 14 emergency treatment beds, in addition to advanced diagnostic imaging, cardiac testing, speech and physical therapy.

As an acute care center, the facility saw 36,000 patients in 2008 and has been in constant service since March 2008.