Rockford’s Swedish American Announces Big Hospital Expansion

Scoot over Mercy Health System, you have some competition. Swedish American is planning a $130 million expansion.

Swedish American Hospital, a division of UW Health, announced their plan this morning to spend $130 million dollars to expand, including building a brand-new stand alone women's and children's building including a Level III NICU, which is the highest level of care.

The new building is set to open in 2020. They already have plans in place to build a new clinic to include obstetric services on the west side of Rockford. Also, they are partnering up with Aunt Martha's which is a federally qualified health center providing health services to patients regardless of their insurance or ability to pay. While Mercy Health is building their new hospital on the far east side of town, Swedish-American is committed to continuing to serve the needs of downtown Rockford and their new building will be adjacent to the current hospital. This is exciting news. According to wifr.com, this project will create 600 construction jobs and man more permanent hospital jobs as well.

I can't wait to see what other new changes are in store for our great city.