In October 2021, AdventHealth and Ascension decided to unwind AMITA Health, the joint operating company formed about seven years ago. Leaders of both organizations agreed that going forward separately is in their collective best interests. The unwinding was complete at the end of the first quarter of 2022, and the four AdventHealth hospitals will continue under the banner of AdventHealth Great Lakes Region. We are preparing for this new chapter and are excited to be coming home.
We are going to continue our focus on what sets Adventist healthcare apart from other hospitals: wholistic care. We see the whole person—physically, mentally and spiritually—and use our medical expertise, technology and compassion to heal them.
In 2016, the AMITA Health Cancer Institute and Outpatient Center opened. The center provides a “one-stop shop” for patients on their journey from diagnosis to recovery. In 2017, Hinsdale was named one of the nation’s 100 Top Hospitals for outstanding clinical and operational performance. In March 2020, AMITA Hinsdale and AMITA Health Adventist Medical Center La Grange received the prestigious Magnet recognition for nursing excellence. The medical centers were recognized for having several best-practice standards and a commitment to an outstanding patient experience. In 2021, Hinsdale expanded its Pediatric Spine Program that gives suburban Chicago families access to the highest level of care without having to travel into Chicago. Also in 2021, Hinsdale earned a five-star rating from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
The medical center has undergone a transformation, starting with an emergency department expansion in 2016. In 2017, the hospital announced plans to build a 30,000-square-foot, two-story addition to house cardiovascular and orthopedic services, including six new operating rooms dedicated to knee and hip replacement surgeries. Groundbreaking was held in July 2018, and the new space opened in March 2020. In 2021, La Grange earned a five-star rating from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
In 2019, AMITA Health Adventist Medical Center GlenOaks and AMITA Health Adventist Medical Center Bolingbrook were named Top General Hospitals nationally by The Leapfrog Group. Only 118 hospitals were selected as Top Hospitals nationally, of which only eight are in Illinois. Both medical centers also opened micro-pantries outside of the emergency department for anyone to take any food that they need. In 2020, the GlenOaks Therapeutic Day School opened a new location in a school building, helping these students with special educational needs feel welcomed in an actual school setting. In 2021, GlenOaks introduced a pilot program encouraging nurses, patient care technicians and physicians to prioritize inpatients’ spiritual needs and to alert the hospital’s chaplains when a patient needs spiritual care or emotional support.
In January 2018, the medical center celebrated its tenth anniversary. The center has a strong commitment to the community, including the No One Dies Alone program in which volunteers sit with dying patients who otherwise would be alone. The medical center also began Code Dignity, an overhead page that alerts associates and physicians to come to a designated area of the hospital to honor a patient who has died as they are escorted to the morgue. In 2021, Bolingbrook earned a four-star rating from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
Our hospitals extend the healing ministry of Christ not only to patients in the communities we serve, but internationally as well. Over the last five years, our hospitals have formed teams of about 30 associates and physicians who provide care to those in need in places like Panama, Dominican Republic and El Salvador.
In 2018, the first Mission at Home clinic was held in Harvey (Illinois), to offer free medical care, access to specialists and health screenings to the local community. We held another clinic in 2019 and, during the pandemic, we were able to offer a clinic in 2020 in Glendale Heights, and two more in 2021, including one at the Hinsdale Adventist Academy. The team connected patients to resources in the community and provided free school supplies, face masks and food from a local food bank.
For AdventHealth Great Lakes Region, Thor Thordarson is its president and chief executive officer; Mark Bondarenko serves as executive director of Mission Integration.
