A Springfield hospital is nearing the end of its multi-year expansion, and it’s drawn the attention of at least one prominent lawmaker.

U.S. Senator Dick Durbin toured Memorial Medical Center’s Center for Learning and Innovation, which opened this summer. It’s designed to help existing staff brush up on skills and provide students at the SIU School of Medicine the latest technology.

Durbin says regional facilities like this are important given the state of healthcare today.

Memorial is one of two Springfield hospitals helping the SIU School of Medicine with its curriculum.

In other state news, the head of one of the nation’s largest agricultural processors is hoping his company’s influence will help central Illinois become a major shipping hub.

Efforts are underway in Decatur to market the city’s Midwest Inland Port, a multi-modal port that takes advantage of easy air, road and rail traffic within 500 miles of 95 million people.

Juan Luciano, the CEO of Archer Daniels Midland, says he wants to use ADM’s strengths to make the region known for a new type of business.

Luciano says innovation through the opportunities the Midwest Inland Port could provide is tantamount to improving the quality of life in central Illinois.