Alexian Brothers Hospital Network Announces Plans for New Children's Hospital

"The nearly two million residents of Chicago's northwest corridor are facing significant health challenges in the immediate future," explained Brother Thomas Keusenkothen, president of the Alexian Brothers Health System.

Brother Keusenkothen's remarks led the public announcement of the new Alexian Brothers Children's Hospital to be located on the campus of St. Alexius Medical Center in Hoffman Estates. "Limited access to comprehensive pediatric health services in this region, combined with the tremendous population growth, is impacting the already burdened families of critically ill children, " said Brother Thomas.  "These children need a medical home where they can receive comprehensive state-of-the-art care.  A place close to their home in their own community."

Presently, critically ill children of families from Chicago's suburbs must be transferred to specialized children's hospitals downtown, where parents have to contend with significant travel and accommodation concerns just to be by their child's bedside. For families with multiple children, it is especially difficult when travel times to hospitals are extensive.

The new Alexian Brothers Children's Hospital will include all private rooms, a  Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, a  Pediatric Unit, and observation rooms.

During the announcement, Alexian Brothers Hospital Network officials stressed the need for the new suburban children's hospital citing an estimated 15 percent growth in neonatal discharges over the next ten years in the region, as well as an expected increase of low birth weight babies and pre-term births.

Alexian Brothers Hospital Network is projecting an increase in deliveries at their existing northwest suburban hospitals in Elk Grove Village and Hoffman Estates from nearly 6,000 to 7,500 over just the next several years. "Twenty percent of U.S. households have a least one child with special needs," said Dr. Sri Pillai, a pediatric surgeon at St. Alexius Medical Center.  "More complex births require more complex obstetrical and pediatric services, and this new hospital will be able to provide that much needed care."

Alexian Brothers Hospital Network has already begun recruiting top neonatal physicians and surgeons from around the Midwest to staff the new hospitals and serve the increasing needs of the area.

The Alexian Brothers Children's Hospital must go through the Certificate of Need (CON) approval process governed by the Illinois Department of Public Health. However, since the hospital will be under the St. Alexius Medical Center license, the standards are different than a free-standing facility.

"Our mission is identifying and developing effective responses to the health and housing needs of those we are called to serve," said Brother Keusenkothen. "By developing a comprehensive children's hospital on the campus of St. Alexius Medical Center, we are addressing the needs and health demands of families in the northwest suburbs. This new facility will provide a medical home for our families, creating a comforting setting in which to heal."

Officials will break ground for the new hospital once the capital campaign raises 75% of the funds needed. The new Alexian Brothers Children's Hospital will be the only specialized distinct children's hospital in the Northwest corridor.