Emergency Center Now Open

Rush-Copley Emergency Center opened at 8 a.m. Monday with three treatment bays, a procedure room and a helicopter-landing pad.

“As a local emergency center, we can keep emergency patients here for more evaluation and testing without immediately sending them on to a hospital,” Chris Hwang, Medical Director of Emergency Services at Rush-Copley, said in a news release. “Patients will be able to get the care they need, and in many instances, will be able to leave sooner and closer to home.”

The 6,000-square-foot center at 1122 W. Veterans Parkway is the first of its kind in Kendall County and operates around the clock. It can accept ambulances and handle medical problems such as broken bones, cuts and asthma attacks, according to a news release.

It provides the equivalent of 34 full-time jobs, including an eight-member paramedic team and 12 new registered nurses, said Patricia Gomez, administrative director of emergency services and Rush-Copley Healthcare Center, Yorkville Campus.

The helicopter pad, which sits on the facility’s west side, wasn’t required by state guidelines, but will be helpful for transporting patients who need more intense care to the appropriate facilities.

“We felt very strongly about having one on site,” Gomez said.

The facility is supported by services available at the adjacent Rush-Copley Healthcare Center, such as general radiology, MRI, mammography and ultrasound. The healthcare center opened in July 2008.

Health care leaders and local dignitaries gathered in May .