Lurie Children's Hospital plans to open new pediatric hospital in Downers Grove, Illinois
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital announced this week that it is planning to open a new pediatric hospital in the west Chicago suburb of Downers Grove.
The new hospital would be Lurie's first inpatient hospital outside the main location in Chicago's Streeterville community. It would feature an emergency department, surgery suites, inpatient beds, and key pediatric subspecialties — including oncology, cardiology, gastroenterology, and orthopedics.
The facility would be for children who do not need the highest level of care.
"This is an exciting opportunity for Lurie Children's to bring internationally recognized pediatric care closer to home for families in the western suburbs," Dr. Tom Shanley, president and chief executive officer of Lurie Children's, said in a news release. "Just as important, we are committed to engaging the community — listening, learning and shaping this facility around the needs of the families we serve."
According to Lurie, 47% of children in Chicago's western suburbs now leave their communities and come downtown if they need overnight hospital care.
The facility will be designed with child-friendly environments focused on patients' needs, Lurie said.
The announcement of plans for the new Downers Grove comes on the heels of the ribbon-cutting last fall for a new Lurie outpatient facility in Schaumburg. In addition to the main hospital in Streeterville close to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Lurie Children's currently offers 17 outpatient centers, six primary care locations, and 10 partner hospitals in the Chicago area.
Lurie Children's Hospital opened in 2012 as the successor to Children's Memorial Hospital, which had been located in the Lincoln Park neighborhood near DePaul University had dated back to 1882. Lurie is associated with the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University.
