OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center
is a 254-bed tertiary care facility located on a 100-acre campus near Interstate 90 and US Business 20 in Rockford, Illinois. We are a regional medical center known for providing pioneering care in our Level I Trauma Center, Regional Heart Institute, Center for Cancer Care, Illinois Neurosciences Institute and Women’s Center. Click here and read our 2006 annual report.

“Pink Ribbon Ball”
 Helps Expand Digital Mammography Capabilities

Sponsored by the OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center Foundation, the 54th Annual Pink Ball, “Pink Ribbon Ball,” was held Saturday, January 26, 2008, at Giovanni’s Restaurant in Rockford. Proceeds from this year’s Pink Ball will help the OSF Saint Anthony Women’s Center expand its full field digital mammography capabilities. 

Updated Charity Care Policy
The philosophy of OSF HealthCare is that all people have a right to receive needed healthcare. We offer charity assistance for medically necessary services to persons who meet our financial terms and provide the necessary documents. To download the OSF Charity Assistance form click here. To download the form in Spanish, click here. Call our Patient Accounting department at 815.395-5070 with questions.

Nurse Staffing

You have the right to access information about our nurse staffing.

Nurse staffing includes the number of registered professional nurses, licensed practical nurses and other nursing personnel assigned to each patient unit each day.

To receive this information while you are or your loved one is hospitalized, contact the health unit coordinator (HUC) on the specific nursing unit.  Your request will be answered by a nursing supervisor or manager. 

You may also call the nursing services office at 1/815/395-5195, or put your request in writing to: Nursing Services, OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center, 5666 E. State Street, Rockford, IL 61108.

Information about our accreditations and quality reports can be found under the "News and Events" tab.

OSF Saint Anthony Uses New Technology to Screen for MRSA
As of November 1, 2007, all inpatients upon admission to OSF Saint Anthony have been given a screening assessment for Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). A comprehensive checklist is used to determine a patient’s potential to be a carrier of the organism. All patients that meet the designated criteria are then tested for MRSA using Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology

The PCR MRSA assay requires a nasal swab as the test sample. The PCR technology involves detection of MRSA DNA using a new automated system that detects the target sequence. The test result is available in 2 ½ hours, rather than the standard 24 to 48 hours required by culture method. All patients testing positive for MRSA are placed in contact isolation in order to prevent the spread of this organism to others.

Other area hospitals screen and test for MRSA as well, but OSF Saint Anthony is the only one that is providing the quick DNA test with the PCR machine.

Governor Rod Blagojevich recently signed a mandate requiring hospitals to test all critical care and high-risk patients for MRSA. OSF Saint Anthony instituted this admission screen assessment and PCR technology to better ensure the safety of those we serve.

OSF Saint Anthony Receives Medal of Honor

For the third year in a row, OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center has earned a U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Medal of Honor for Organ Donation.

To earn a Medal of Honor, hospitals must achieve at least a 75 percent donation rate, far higher than the current national average of 60 percent. 

OSF Center for Health - Rock Cut, Coming Fall of ‘08
OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center, OSF Medical Group and OSF HealthPlans are developing a 30-acre site at the southwest corner of Perryville Road and Route 173 in Loves Park. The site work for the project began in May of 2007 and a winter 2008-09 opening is expected.

Several lots of the site, called “Rock Cut Crossing,” will be sold for retail space. “Ideally, we’d like to see a pharmacy, a nice restaurant and a bank on these lots,” says Kurt Streit, director of facility services.

On the OSF portion of the site a three-story, 82,000-sqaure-foot building is well under construction. Services in the building, called OSF Center for Health - Rock Cut, will include a full-service laboratory, medical imaging, primary care, pediatrics and prompt care.

Through this new venture, OSF promises to provide services to fit the needs and expectations of patients such as:

• Excellent medical care with the addition of an element of hospitality to our service
• Individualized attention to those we serve
• Convenient healthcare delivered where, when and how patients want it
• A comfortable, stress-free experience

New Breast Cancer Screening Tool Developed at OSF Saint Anthony
Kent F. Hoskins, MD, director of the cancer risk assessment program at the OSF Saint Anthony Center for Cancer Care, published an article in the October 2006 edition of Cancer, a peer-review journal of the American Cancer Society. The Hoskins Pedigree Assessment Tool helps determine a woman's risk for developing a genetically-related breast cancer. We are making the tool available at no cost. Click here to use the tool.

Hitting the Bull’s-Eye in Treating Tumors

Aiming radiation beams at a tumor accurately and precisely is vital.  Directing the highest dose of radiation at the tumor while avoiding healthy tissue surrounding it provides the best results with the fewest side effects.

Although the tumor’s location is mapped and the patient positioned before radiation therapy begins, the tumor can move.  Even slight variations, such as those caused by weight loss, breathing or other normal movements, can effect how precise the beam is.

To compensate for targeting a “moving” object, radiation oncologists have traditionally had to treat a margin of healthy tissue around the tumor. But now, the OSF Saint Anthony Center for Cancer Care has added Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT) to its linear accelerator, the first facility in Rockford to offer this advanced technology for radiation therapy. To find out more, click here.

Women's Center Offers Digital Mammography

When it’s time for your mammogram, whether baseline or annual screening, you want state-of-the-art equipment, skilled staff, education and --just as important -- warmth, caring, and confidentiality.  All of that can be found inside the OSF Saint Anthony Women’s Center. New, digital mammogram equipment, as well as Computer-Aided Detection (CAD) technology that accompanies the radiologists’ reading of mammograms, demonstrates that the OSF is committed to providing up-to-date care. In certain populations, the digital mammogram is superior to the traditional analog. Perimenopausal women under the age of 50 who have had a menstrual cycle within the last year and those with dense breast tissue  can benefit from digital.