Published on April 01, 2010

Methodist Opens Its New Front Door

Patients and visitors to Methodist Medical Center will now enter through a new and improved Hamilton Boulevard entrance. The new $11 million entrance officially opened during a ribbon cutting and public open house on April 1, 2010.The new entrance is designed to assist patients with easier access to the medical center by providing pre- admission testing and registration all in one general area as well as digital way-finding. New self-service kiosks feature MyMethodist Express to make checking in faster and more accurate. By using the MyMethodist Express, patients can confirm scheduled appointments with a touch of the screen as well as scan insurance and ID cards and use credit cards to cover medical co-pays. "Our goal is to decrease wait times and increase patient satisfaction," said Tonya Johnson, Patient Registration Manager. "It also helps us reduce paper usage, and that's healthier for our environment."

A featured element of the new entrance and lobby is an array of locally produced artwork emphasizing nature as part of a "healing environment." Glass artisan Hiram Toraason created a wall sculpture that greets the public just inside the front doors. The creation is made up of 240 pieces of hand-blown glass mounted on the wall 13 feet high and depicting sky and water. Toraason's work is also part of a donor recognition wall for the Methodist Foundation that includes hand-blown glass flowers encased within lighted glass columns.

Artwork displayed throughout the new area includes nature prints depicting local flora by Methodist employee, Tina Gauwitz, along with artwork from Don Kettleborough, Tom Gross, Greg Depauw and Michael McKee, all local artists.

Also opening at the same time is a new 600-car parking deck and attached skywalk that will connect the new entrance with convenient patient and visitor parking. Methodist President and CEO Michael Bryant said, "It is wonderful to have a new ‘front door,' an identifiable entrance and location that will make it so much more convenient for our patients and visitors, making it easier than ever for people to access their healthcare at Methodist."

Bryant continued, "New pedestrian-friendly landscaping on the Methodist campus compliments the structural changes and is in keeping with the New Urbanism approach to architecture, providing green space and enhancing the neighborhood. The new lobby, entrance and parking facility, along with the new Methodist North at Allen Road and other Methodist properties, are bringing a whole new look to healthcare in Central Illinois."