New Hospital Opens in Southern Illinois

Enlarge image

Credit Wikimedia Commons

A new $237 million hospital in southern Illinois has officially opened.

The newly-constructed Good Samaritan Regional Health Center in Mount Vernon is transferring patients from an outdated existing facility with more than a dozen ambulances. Judy Haynes is coordinating the patient move for Good Samaritan. She said that each patient will be moved in an ambulance equipped to their needs. It's expected to last several hours. Construction on the new center began in April 2010. It'll create an estimated 112 health care jobs and 40 office positions. The new center replaces the existing complex, which opened in 1952. It will be demolished.