Realigning outpatient services in the northwest suburbs, Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago said it wants to build a $56 million center in Schaumburg that will replace smaller locations in Arlington Heights, Hoffman Estates and Huntley.
The hospital wants to build a three-story, 70,000-square-foot building at 3 Hillcrest Boulevard, a vacant site at Roselle Road near the I-90 tollway. It is asking for state authority to start construction by early 2024, with completion by the end of 2025.
Details of its proposal were filed with the Illinois Health Facilities & Services Review Board, which must approve or reject projects affecting health care. The board said it is tentatively scheduled to review the proposal Dec. 13.
Lurie said a single, larger facility will produce economies of scale while still relieving pressing demand for outpatient pediatric services. In 2021, it opened an outpatient center in Skokie that was supposed to alleviate heavy use at Clark Street and Deming Place in Chicago, but patient loads have increased since then, Lurie told the state.
“Many of the Lurie Children’s satellite facilities are at capacity,” the hospital said in its state filing. It said that in many cases, waiting times for new patients to get an appointment exceed one-and-a-half months.
“This delay in obtaining appointments is not acceptable and constitutes an access problem for families needing care for their children and adolescents,” the hospital told the state.
Lurie said the Schaumburg site will include 40 exam and treatment rooms for pediatric primary and specialty care, diagnostic imaging and cardiac testing. Services will include an ambulatory infusion center, blood bank and pharmacy.
The building would include space for future expansion, subject to state review. Plans call for surface parking for about 250 cars.
Hospital spokeswoman Julianne Bardele said one impetus behind the decision is that Lurie’s lease with Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights expires next September. Lurie does not have a partnership agreement with NorthShore University Health System, which has purchased Northwest.
The hospital said it intends to extend the lease in Arlington Heights and time the closings in Hoffman Estates and Huntley to coincide with the opening in Schaumburg.
Lurie operates 21 satellite locations across the Chicago area. Its main location is at 225 E. Chicago Ave.
The state filing shows Lurie’s has a contract to buy the property at 3 Hillcrest Boulevard for up to $2.6 million. The sellers are a partnership that includes Larry Debb, president of GSP Development, and principals of Marc Realty.
Bardele said that five years after the new location opens, it is expected to have a staff whose hours will equal 85 full-time workers.
