MONTICELLO — The new hospital built in Monticello is nearly ready for patients.

The move from the old hospital building is set to begin the last week in September, and public tours of the new building are set for mid-month.

"Four years we've been working on this project," said Michelle Rathman-Batschke, a consultant working with hospital officials on the new medical campus.

The new 71,000-square-foot Kirby Medical Center has been built at a cost of $30 million on part of 108 acres just off the Market Street exit of Interstate 72.

It is double the size of the 40-year-old John and Mary E. Kirby Hospital it is replacing, but the licensed hospital bed count of 16 will remain the same. The hospital needed more space, but the largest share of its business is in outpatient services, hospital officials said.

Plans are to move patients to the new hospital by Sept. 30, Rathman-Batschke said.

Kirby Medical Center CEO Steve Tenhouse said the move is being staged carefully, and will take one hour from start to finish. Some of the larger equipment, such as a brand new 64-slice CT scanner, is already there.

The Illinois Department of Public Health is scheduled to inspect the new building Sept. 14, and if the new hospital passes inspection, the move will begin then for some other hospital departments, he said.

"Really, the only active departments we'll have at the old hospital will be the emergency department and the inpatient wing," he said.

Getting to this point of this long project "feels good, because we really got a very well-designed building coming in on time and on budget" Tenhouse said.

The new medical campus is also being called an economic engine for the community, as anchor of the new Jefferson Parkway development. It generated 201 construction jobs at its peak and will create 20 new jobs when it opens, according to hospital officials.

The doctors of Kirby Medical Group will move into the hospital building, and Carle is building a new 13,000-square-foot physician office building for its medical practice in Piatt County next to the hospital. The Carle facility is set to be finished by the end of the year, Rathman-Batschke said.

Meanwhile, three rounds of 5,000 postcards have been mailed to Piatt County residents, informing them of the upcoming changes and inviting them to an open house and tours of the new medical campus set for 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 18.

The replacement hospital was funded through a federal loan and more than $1 million in community donations, hospital officials said.