PROGRESS2026 PROGRESS 2026
ShawLocal.com | Saturday, April 11, 2026
THIS WEEK’S WINNERS HEALTHCARE
Riverside Healthcare Award sponsored by Nucor Steel See page 1
HOSPITALITY
Mistie Hill Vineyard Award sponsored by Kankakee County Chamber of Commerce See page 3
MID-SIZE BUSINESS Photo provided by Riverside Healthcare
Riverside Healthcare President and CEO Phil Kambic speaks to board members and attendees of the open house introducing the installment of new imaging technology at the Bourbonnais campus.
Belson Steel Center Scrap Inc. Award sponsored by Prime Healthcare Illinois Medical Group See page 5
SOCIAL SERVICES
Expanding and evolving Riverside Healthcare’s new imaging suite in Bourbonnais has been a game-changer By DAVE FIDLIN Shaw Local News Network correspondent
P
ET/CT scanners have been
Hippocrates Medical Clinic Award sponsored by United Way of Kankakee and Iroquois Counties See page 7
REAL ESTATE
Michelle Arseneau Group Award sponsored by Kankakee-Iroquois-Ford Association of Realtors See page 9
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popular tools in medical facilities, and their use is
expected to reach new heights in the next decade as technology continues evolving at a rapid clip. With an eye toward the future – and keeping patients’ current-day needs in mind – Riverside Healthcare has been strategically allocating capital spending toward PET/CT scanners, which use noninvasive imaging to detect a range of conditions. Riverside Healthcare was recognized as an Innovator in Healthcare in The Daily Journal’s 2026 Progress Awards for its focus on patient needs and harnessing the latest technological tools available in today’s marketplace. The organization’s commitment has been two-fold, as evidenced by last year’s completed construction of a 5,000-square-foot imaging suite and the purchase of new MRI and CT machines.
us installing our own PET/CT suite, is that they had to go out to a trailer, and brave the elements.” Kathryn Eschbach, director of imaging services, has been credited within the organization for honing in on the expansion project, which became a priority shortly after she joined Riverside in the second half of 2021. The third-party provider arrangement, Eschbach said, brought several limitations – some more evident than others. “We had been partners with them for 18 years,” she said. “They had been great partners to us, but we were on a schedule with them. They could only come in about SPONSORED BY twice a week, at most. There was a limited number of appointments that they could take in a day. It was on a truck, so patients had to be relatively ambulatory to be able to get on and off.” The new facility coincides with growing The suite, in particular, has brought demand from Riverside’s patient base for noticeable change to Riverside since it was PET/CT imaging services. unveiled a year ago. Riverside formerly had “We were serving around 40 to 50 patients, in place an arrangement with an outside max, a month,” Eschbach said. “Since we’ve provider that involved the use of a portable opened, we’re now offering more than mobile unit. 90 time slots every month. It’s a huge asset, “A lot of these patients are some of our giving patients the ability to get in when most compromised patients,” said Garrard they need to.” Hendrix, supervisor of nuclear medicine. “The way that service was rendered, prior to See RIVERSIDE HEALTHCARE, page 2
INNOVATOR IN HEALTHCARE