Road Closures, Parking Restrictions for Patient Move Day on Feb. 23

Final preparations under way for official opening of the Center for Care and Discovery

February 18, 2013

Road closures will be in effect Saturday, Feb. 23, as the University of Chicago Medicine opens the new Center for Care and Discovery and carries out the delicate task of transporting an estimated 200 patients being treated for complex conditions from Mitchell Hospital to the new Center for Care and Discovery.

Parking also will not be allowed in barricaded areas. In addition to the traffic and parking restrictions, hospital officials are asking that anyone without the need for immediate or urgent care avoid the medical campus and its perimeter Feb. 23 to help ensure a safe and effective move to the new facility. More than 500 hospital employees will focus their efforts to help move patients on opening day of the new hospital, which is dedicated to specialty care in areas such as cancer, gastrointestinal disease, neuroscience, advanced surgery and high-tech medical imaging.

The following roads will be closed to traffic and pedestrians from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 23:

• East 57th Street, from South Cottage Grove Avenue to South Drexel Avenue
• Maryland Avenue, between East 57th Street and East 58th Street

For patients with existing clinic appointments, access to the Duchossois Center for Advanced Medicine (DCAM) and Comer Children's Hospital will be allowed. Please note:

• Patients with an appointment at DCAM may enter through the building's main entrance.
• Comer patients will be directed to the children's emergency entrance on Drexel Avenue.
• Parking will remain available at the main hospital parking garage at the posted rates.

Months of planning have gone into choreographing the logistics of this historic move, including training of hundreds of employees, lowering the census of patients in Mitchell Hospital, and precisely timing the move of patients and medical equipment. Patients will be transported via underground corridors and bridges with every precaution made to guarantee the safe arrival in their new quarters.

"Every detail of this move has been thoughtfully planned with the comfort and well-being of each patient in mind," said Stephen Weber, MD, chief medical officer and vice president for clinical effectiveness at the UChicago Medicine. "The new home that awaits the Center for Care and Discovery's first patients will offer an unsurpassed level care for the complex challenges they face. This transition marks a milestone in the future of health care across the region and beyond."

The 1.2 million-square-foot facility features 240 single-occupancy patient rooms spacious enough to accommodate families for overnight stays. The $700 million hospital project, under way since 2009, is estimated to be among the largest investments ever made on Chicago's South Side.

For more information or call (773) 702-1000.