CHICAGO-The Texas Medical Center in Houston is considered the country's granddaddy of all healthcare facility concentrations. And why wouldn't this be the case? The area just outside of Houston's downtown has a total of 37 million square feet inside numerous hospitals, medical office buildings, clinics and research facilities.

The US is home to some other big medical concentrations as well, including San Antonio's South Texas Medical Center and Boston's Longwood Medical Area. However, one of the under-the-radar medical districts is the Illinois Medical District.

Located just a couple of miles from downtown, IMD is a 560-acre area that includes 40 healthcare-related facilities including four major hospitals – University of Illinois Health & Sciences System, Rush University Medical Center, Jesse Brown VA Medical Center and John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County. Also on site are medical research labs, a biotechnology business incubator, universities and an area of developable land.

Despite its size and well-known hospitals, the district itself has not made many headlines in recent years. Warren Ribley, appointed last year by Illinois Governor Pat Quinn as the head of the IMD Commission, told the local media: “For the last 10 years, the IMD has been largely dormant.” But that is about to change. "I was hired to come in and really turn around the medical district so it can see its potential,” Ribley said.

The Boston Consulting Group has been brought in to help devise a new growth and improvement plan. And according to a recent document issued by the IMD, its commissioners and staff members are operating under a “sense of urgency” to achieve “wins” that demonstrate successful implementation of a new strategic vision.

The medical district, in fact, is in the midst of planning for an expansion that would add new projects, not necessarily all medical, that would create more than $300 million in new revenue during the next 10 years. Plans call for the development of 55 vacant acres with retail space, a hotel, restaurants, offices and a meeting-space complex. It also calls for the building of a high-speed fiber optic line linking researchers to the University of Illinois' supercomputer.

The district's plan for growth and improvement entails four areas: developing new projects and improving infrastructure; improving access to healthcare services and reducing costs by focusing on chronic diseases; supporting and enhancing translational research; and increasing the sharing of data among member institutions. The district's four hospitals and other members were part of the planning process.

“This strategic plan represents a tremendous opportunity for Rush University Medical Center and the Illinois Medical District,” Larry Goodman, CEO of Rush, said in a news release. “We were thrilled to collaborate on the strategic planning process and look forward to the continued growth and economic development that emerges from the district in the coming years.”

Chicago's healthcare real estate scene has been vibrant for quite some time. It looks as if it might become even more so in years to come.

John B. Mugford is the Editor of Healthcare Real Estate Insights™, the nation's first and only publication totally dedicated to covering news and trends in healthcare real estate development, financing and investment. For more information, please visit www.HREInsights.com.