MOUNT VERNON, IL - A new $237 million hospital in southern Illinois has officially opened.

The (Carbondale) Southern Illinoisan reported Sunday that the newly-constructed Good Samaritan Regional Health Center in Mount Vernon transferred patients from an outdated existing facility with more than a dozen ambulances.

Construction on the new center began in April 2010. It'll create an estimated 112 health care jobs and 40 office positions.

The new center replaces the existing complex, which opened in 1952. It will be demolished.