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Facility Tours

The most innovative facilities in the greater Chicago area will welcome you to tour their locations and discuss their design, planning and construction choices. Enjoy this excellent educational, inspirational, and networking opportunity. This year we are offering both pre and post event tours.  Pre-registration is required for all of tours as well as an additional fee.  Please read the pre-event tour descriptions to get information on where to catch your tour.

PRE-CONFERENCE TOURS
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29th, 2009

1:00 PM - 5:00 PM
TOUR 1: CHICAGO BOTANICAL GARDENS – BUEHLER ENABLING GARDEN
This tour will depart from the Hyatt Hotel at 1 pm and the bus will return to the Hyatt. 

Opening in July of 1999, the award winning11,000-square-foot Buehler Enabling Garden at the Chicago Botanic Garden is among the preeminent gardens of its type in the world. An important component of the Garden’s Horticultural Therapy program, its state-of-the-art structures, tools, techniques and programming serve as a resource encouraging people of all ages and abilities enjoy safe and comfortable lifelong gardening. Many of the ideas on display can be adapted to home gardens. In addition the garden has evolved to serve as a well designed example and resource for the ever increasing number of healthcare and human service agencies installing gardens as sanctuaries for patients, visitors and staff and as venues for a full range of therapies and other programs.

The Enabling Garden features: plantings that stimulate the senses; displays of adapted tools; hanging baskets on pulleys; vertical gardens that maximize space and planting beds and containers raised to varying heights for comfortable reach – all in a spectacular setting. Each year, the horticultural therapy staff and volunteers plant more than 4,500 annuals to accent more than 400 perennials and 60 trees and shrubs in the Garden.  Designed as a formal garden with brick and stone walls, the garden has three “rooms” to explore: a container court, a gallery garden and a vista garden. Also included are an outdoor classroom and a resource center showcasing a variety of adaptive gardening tools and Horticultural Therapy publications.
The Enabling Garden features one of the most spectacular vistas at the Garden. Trellised archways and vaulted rooflines frame panoramas that sweep across the Garden’s lakes. Water features include two cascading water walls and several elevated pools.

The creation of the Buehler Enabling Garden was the result of an extensive collaboration among Garden staff, architects, landscape designers and experts on universal design, healthcare practitioners, as well as many people with disabilities. Authorities on universal and barrier free design from the Smithsonian Institute, the National Center on Accessibility, the American Horticultural Therapy Association, and the Chicago Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities also provided valuable insights for the garden.

The Buehler Enabling Garden offers classes and activities to groups from regional health and human service agencies and schools serving people with disabilities, older adults and those recovering from illness through the Garden’s world-renowned Horticultural Therapy Services department. Horticultural therapy is professionally directed gardening and nature activities used to advance therapeutic goals and maintain or improve the health and well being of program participants. The Garden’s program has received considerable recognition for its innovations in barrier-free gardening and horticultural therapy programming. Chicago Botanic Garden staff members regularly serve as advisors to a number of botanic gardens, children’s centers, senior centers, rehabilitation hospitals and residential facilities interested in creating their own gardens. 

2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
TOUR 2: CHICAGO ARCHITECTURE FOUNDATIONS'S ARCHITECTURE RIVER CRUISE
Registration for this tour is separate.  Please visit http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/210042587C257694 and enter event code HFS99 in the drop down screen.  Make sure you arrive dockside Michigan & Wacker SE Corner of the Michigan Ave. Bridge 30 to 20 min early.  Tour departs at 2 pm.

CAF's Architecture River Cruise spotlights over 50 historic and architecturally significant sites where you'll gain a new perspective of the city. Come aboard either of our well-appointed vessels, Chicago's First Lady, Chicago's Little Lady and Chicago's Fair Lady where open-air and indoor seating will add comfort to your journey. Snacks and beverages are available for purchase on board.  All seats are sold for upper decks, don't worry you won't have to sit inside.  All seats are general admission, the number on your ticket does not represent a seat number.  Don't forget your camera to capture the beauty of the architecture.  Experience this fabulous tour with other professionals for a unique opportunity!

POST-CONFERENCE TOURS
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2nd, 2009
11:30 AM - 3:30 PM
Buses for all the post-conference tours will depart from Navy Pier at 11:30 am and a boxed lunch will be provided.  Buses will make return stops at the official HFSE hotels and Navy Pier.

TOUR 3: CHICAGO FAMILY HEALTH CENTER – SOUTH CHICAGO CENTER
 
Chicago Family Health Center (CFHC) is a community-based, non-profit health center that provides comprehensive, accessible primary healthcare to the residents of South Chicago, South Deering, the East Side, Roseland, Pullman, West Pullman, Hegewisch, Auburn Gresham and surrounding communities within the City of Chicago limits.  The clinic sites are located at 9119 S. Exchange, 556 E. 115th Street,  120 W. 111th Street and 3535 E.114th Street in Chicago.

CFHC provides a full range of services including comprehensive primary care for all life cycles.   CFHC employs various primary care physicians from various disciplines including family practice, OB/GYN, pediatrics and internal medicine.  Physicians provide the appropriate primary and acute care with a focus on prevention and education.  Obstetrical care and deliveries are performed by the OB/GYN and family practice physicians.

In 2008, Chicago Family served more than 19,600 patients; Chicago Family patients are 47% Hispanic, 50% African American and 3% other.  Ninety-six percent (96%) of Chicago Family patients are at or below 200% of the federal poverty level and over 7,200 patients are uninsured.  Last year, Chicago Family provided $3.3 million in charitable care to our uninsured patients.

TOUR 4: John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County Emergency Department and Saints Mary and Elizabeth Medical Center Emergency Department

This tour has two stops, providing an inside look at two emergency departments that provide services to very large patient volumes. 

John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County, the replacement facility for Cook County Hospital, opened in December 2002.  The hospital's Emergency Department is one of the largest and busiest in the United States, serving 127,000 adult, 13,000 children, and 4,500 major trauma patients per year.  The Level I Trauma Unit includes 23 exam and treatment beds, 10 intensive care units, and custom-built isolation rooms for communicable diseases. It also contains a specially designed radiology suite with a state-of-the-art CAT scanner.  The Adult Emergency Department houses five resuscitation stations, 15 open treatment areas and four isolation rooms located adjacent to the triage area of the department.  A fast-track area is separated from the adult emergency zone and contains two suture rooms, two OB rooms, five open treatment areas and two private exam rooms.  The Pediatric Emergency Department includes two resuscitation stations, five open treatment areas, 10 private exam rooms, two isolation units, an asthma treatment area, and a cast room.  A 25 bed, 24-hour Emergency Observation Unit serves both the adult and pediatric patients. The facility was designed by CCH Design Group, a joint venture comprised of Loebl Schlossman & Hackl, McDonough Associates, Inc., Globetrotters Engineering Corporation, and HDR, Inc.

Saints Mary and Elizabeth Medical Center opened a new emergency department facility in January 2008 that is one of the largest in Chicago, accommodating 65,000 visits annually.  Designed by Loebl Schlossman & Hackl, the new Emergency Department is positioned on the site to allow for direct internal access to the existing radiology and procedure areas that provide critical ER support services.  The addition’s siting also resolves previous traffic flow conflicts, creating separate public and ambulance access drives and entry points.  The 25,500 SF Emergency Department addition is configured for a total of 34 treatment bays including Cardiac, Acute Care, and Psychiatric Care and provides integral CT Scan and Radiology support spaces.  In lieu of large areas subdivided by curtains, private treatment bays offer patients and family members acoustical and emotional privacy.  Glass sliding doors provide direct visual observation for the technical staff and enable a higher standard of care. Very large open work areas promote teaming and facilitate movement of equipment and people through various stages of treatment.  Finishes were selected from a palette of mid-tones to create an atmosphere of tranquility--for both patients and staff--to relieve stress from the range of emotions and activity typically experienced in this type of facility.

TOUR 5: MATHER LIFEWAYS OF EVANSTON

Mather LifeWays of Evanston, Illinois has broken the mold of the traditional CCRC on a suburban campus, by embracing the renaissance in urban living and its many benefits for adults 62 and older. The 496,000 square foot community encompasses redevelopment of a 3.2 acre urban infill site previously occupied by two outdated senior residences. The community provides 243 homes, comprising 40 different unit plans averaging nearly 1,400 square feet per unit. The community also provides continuum of living options, located in five distinct neighborhoods.  Two acres of garden space are designed to provide older adults the ability to remain active and engaged and include a formal concert lawn, meandering walking paths, raised garden plots for planting, and roof terraces.

No longer dependent on one development to support all social and community functions, the urban site will support and broaden the quality of life for the residents.  In addition to its proximity to downtown Evanston with its shops and services and access to public transportation, The Mather is just two blocks from Northwestern University and Lake Michigan beaches. A concerted emphasis has been placed on creating spaces that support whole-person wellness, from a brain gym (intellectual) to a concert lawn (social) to a space for Tai Chi and meditation (spiritual). The project includes a 10,000 square foot fitness center/day spa.  Great attention was also paid to creating memorable dining experiences.  Movable glass partition walls expand the lobby space, welcoming patrons to experience seven unique dining venues and lounges. 

The urban site and project implementation were complicated by the historical context, phased occupancy needs, vertical distribution of the program elements and limited access for construction. However, the overwhelming positive response by prospective residents has validated Mather LifeWays’ investment in Evanston and has informed their interest and pursuit of other urban sites for future developments.