Patients continue to plea for healthcare at lower prices and in more convenient locations, and those demands are reshaping Chicago-area medical campuses.

HSA PrimeCare, a division of Chicago-based HSA Commercial Real Estate, last week broke ground on a 40K SF medical office pavilion on Silver Cross Hospital’s campus in New Lenox, a southwest suburb near Joliet.

The builders plan to complete the facility by December. Located on the west side of campus on Silver Cross Boulevard, just south of the new Silver Oaks Behavioral Health Hospital, and immediately west of the Interstate 355/Interstate 80 interchange, it will house the hospital’s urgent care, occupational health and primary care clinics, among other medical tenants.

“With the existing buildings approaching full capacity, it’s the ideal time to develop yet another cutting-edge facility that will give additional healthcare providers the opportunity to establish a presence on campus,” HSA PrimeCare President John Wilson said.

The urgent-care services facility will be a faster, easier alternative to the emergency room for the treatment of minor injuries and illnesses, said Molly Brusca, administrative director of physician relations at Silver Cross Hospital.

“The migration from inpatient to outpatient care, which has been taking place over the past 20 years, has contributed to a decrease in the national occupancy rate for hospitals from 77% to 61% since 1980,” according to a new report from JLL, citing data from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission.

Over the last 10 years, outpatient visitation increased by 25%, the report said.