CHAMPAIGN – An occupational-health center has plans to expand its space and services in the area.

Safeworks Illinois, which has operated out of a building on North Market Street in Champaign for the last eight years, recently completed the sale of its Decatur office to St. Mary's Hospital, paving the way for the company to expand its business in Champaign and Chicago.

"I really have been encouraged by the growth we've had in Champaign," said Dr. David Fletcher, founder and owner of SafeWorks Illinois Occupational Health Services.

The Champaign office, 1806 N. Market St., opened in December 2001 and offers services such as drug testing, injury treatment and rehabilitation. The current building is about 9,000 square feet. Fletcher said he will be looking for a new, larger space sometime in the next 12 to 24 months.

Fletcher started the company in Decatur in 1985. He sold the SafeWorks Illinois Decatur to St. Mary's Hospital and HSHS Medical Group and it is now Occupational Health & Wellness at St. Mary's. The deal had been in the works for about six months, he said.

The SafeWorks Illinois Decatur staff are now St. Mary's employees. Fletcher will be a consultant for Occupational Health & Wellness at St. Mary's.

The Champaign office has 19 employees and one employee in Chicago.

"We want to develop a bigger rehabilitation facility, including an aquatic pool," Fletcher said. An exact location for the new Champaign center has not been determined yet, he said.

With the expansion, SafeWorks Illinois plans to further develop a model Fletcher called "fast-track" services. That means, "we treat (patients) like they're an injured athlete. ... We do an immediate triage of the injury," he said. Thus, no more waiting months for an MRI.

"We're treating them just like a star pitcher or star quarterback," he said.

Fletcher envisions hiring more specialists and offering new services and programs, including a teaching program in occupational medicine.

"We're really excited about Champaign," he said. "We offer a care model that's different," he said, adding that he is a physician and the medical center's owner.

"We're in the business of helping productivity by making sure the person is fit for the job once they're given an offer of employment," he said.

Safeworks Illinois also offers prevention programs, return-to-work programs and employee wellness programs.