Northwest Community Healthcare and NorthShore University HealthSystem are hoping to build an $87 million cancer center on what used to be the Motorola campus in Schaumburg.
Northwest Community, which became part of NorthShore last year, is proposing constructing the five-story, 105,000-square-foot center as a way to handle higher demand for cancer care and make it easier for patients to receive care. Now, cancer patients are treated in the basement of Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights, according to an application filed with the state Health Facilities and Services Review Board, which must approve the project before construction can begin
Advertisement
The new cancer center would be about three miles from the main hospital. Groundbreaking is planned for winter of this year, and it could open in spring 2025, pending state and local approvals, NorthShore said in a statement.
“Establishing a stand-alone cancer center will eliminate competition for appointment time and space within the hospital,” according to the application. “Moreover, it will reduce the risk of exposing cancer patients with weakened immune systems to other illnesses and infections. Finally, having all cancer services in one convenient location can minimize stress, especially for patients who require daily treatments.”
Advertisement
Over the next five years, the need for cancer care is expected to grow by 7% in the primary area served by Northwest Community, which includes Arlington Heights, Rolling Meadows, Mount Prospect and Palatine.
The new building would include radiation services, imaging, research, infusion and a pharmacy, among other things.
A number of other area hospitals are also planning to build cancer centers in coming years. University of Chicago Medicine announced plans earlier this year to build a $633 million, 500,000-square-foot cancer hospital in Hyde Park to address health inequities on the South Side and attract patients from across the region. And Rush University Medical Center has been constructing a large facility on Chicago’s Near West Side that it hopes will become a destination center for cancer and neurological care.
The Northwest Community cancer center would join other businesses and organizations that are now located at the former Motorola site. Motorola Solutions moved its headquarters from Schaumburg to Chicago in 2015.
UrbanStreet Group, a Chicago-based regional development firm, is redeveloping the 225-acre former Motorola campus, and is calling the area Veridian. Veridian will include a 30-acre retail and entertainment district that’s in the planning stages, hundreds of row houses, a park and it already has a large apartment complex, said Bob Burk, managing partner at UrbanStreet.
The cancer center would also be part of Veridian, on a piece of land that UrbanStreet sold in recent years, Burk said.
The offices of truck, bus and RV parts manufacturer Boler Company and a Topgolf facility are also part of Veridian. Insurer Zurich North America also built a headquarters on land it bought from Motorola.
