The successor to McHenry Hospital, it was completed in 1984 with 196 beds and a Level 2 trauma center. When McHenry Hospital was launched in 1956 at 308 S. Green St. in McHenry, there were just 22 beds available. The hospitals' focus has turned to outpatient units as technology allows for more and more procedures to be done with little or no hospital stay, Narum said. Sherman Hospital has become the regional trauma center. Its doctors also specialize in cardiovascular care and kidney dialysis.
More improvements are on the horizon.
At Provena Saint Joseph, administrators are hoping for approval to rebuild operating rooms and the emergency-care unit. Work also has begun on a medical office building in Elgin and medical offices in Huntley. Workers continue to construct a n outpatient facility at Sherman Hospital, which eventually will consolidate many of the hospital's outpatient services and the cardiovascular services, Ryan said.