After 130 years in Lincoln Park, the hospital was preparing to move from 700,000 square feet of outdated facilities to a new replacement hospital in the Streeterville area of downtown Chicago.
Migration to an urban campus brings with it several challenges: maintaining service levels and quality during the transition; ensuring seamless communication with the public, patients, physicians, and staff; managing the anticipated shift in culture; learning new equipment, technologies, and systems; enabling easy access to the facility and all its various destinations; and supporting movement of patients, staff, and materials in a condensed vertical building.
The Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago opened in June 2012, boasting almost 290 private inpatient beds, a Level I Trauma Center, Level III NICU, and significant ambulatory space. At 1.25 million square feet spanning 23 stories, Lurie Children’s is the tallest children’s hospital in the United States. Proximity to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Prentice Women’s Hospital, the Rehab Institute of Chicago, and Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine creates synergies across mission-based activities in research, education, and patient care. Since opening, Lurie Children’s has consistently been ranked in the US News & World Report “Best Children’s Hospitals Honor Roll” and was ranked number 6 in 2016.
