'Raising the Roof' at IVCH

PERU — Illinois Valley Community Hospital held a press conference Monday afternoon which focused on a construction project that will benefit new mothers and babies and those needing intensive care.

IVCH Board members and employees of the hospital, along with several community leaders, gathered on the roof of the hospital to hear a short presentation regarding the new obstetrics and intensive care units currently being built.

The presentation was given by CEO Tommy Hobbs and IVCH Board PresidentKris Paul, who both shared much information concerning the current construction project.

The new units will total 15,000 square feet, with 10,000 square feet dedicated solely to the obstetrics unit. This unit will include three labor/delivery/recovery rooms, six post-partum rooms, a nursery and a surgical suite. The surgical suite will be used for patients in need of a cesarean section birth, which has always been performed in the hospital’s surgical ward.

The new intensive care unit will span 5,000 square feet and will have four larger rooms than the current ICU on the second floor of the hospital.

Paul also took a few moments to introduce the six IVCH board members, each whom have served on the board for 25 years or more. These members include George Maze, Harry Erlenborn, Bill Etzenbach, Bill Vlastnik, Joe Hogan and George Buckman.

Additional board members were also introduced, including Dick Martuzzo, David Sickley, Jim Loveland, James Clindard, Dr. Joel Leifheit, Dr. Mario Cote and Dr. Won Kim.

“This is an exciting time at IVCH. The board of directors look forward to continued growth at the hospital in the years ahead,” Paul said.

“Our OB staff is doing a fantastic job, but the unit itself is in one of the older parts of the hospital and has reached a point where remodeling is no longer an option if we are to continue to deliver the level of services modern parents expect,” Hobbs said.

Hobbs also announced the start of the IVCH — For a Lifetime of Care Campaign, which is a fundraising program dedicated to both new units of the facility. The program’s goal is to raise $2 million of the approximate $15.5 million expected to be used on the new project.