UnityPoint Health begins construction on a $60 million construction project Wednesday.
UnityPoint Health, formerly Trinity, is building a three-story new heart center and emergency department facility at its Rock Island campus. The building is designed to improve patient safety and privacy.
Hospital workers say that many treatment bays have been converted into double rooms because there's not enough room for just one patient in the existing facility. At times, the hallways even become patient centers there.
The hospital held its ground breaking Wednesday. It is the largest expansion project in the facility's history. The plan has received approval from the state of Illinois. The hospital is using reserves to help pay for the project.
Patient volume is expected to increase another eight percent in 2014. Construction is supposed to finish the building in the summer of 2015.