By Jon Asplund
January 28, 2026 11:01 AM
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago plans to open a second inpatient hospital, expanding to Downers Grove, the Streeterville hospital announced this morning.
The move to develop a low-acuity hospital in the far western suburb follows last September’s opening of a large outpatient center in Schaumburg, representing a growth strategy toward an integrated health system that the state’s premier children’s hospital had not previously followed.
The project is early in its planning stage and Lurie Children’s did not provide a timeline or details of where specifically the hospital would be located.
The proposed hospital would include pediatric emergency, surgery and inpatient services, Lurie said in a press release. The hospital would also include key pediatric subspecialties like oncology, cardiology, gastroenterology and orthopedics.
Lurie said about 47% of children in the western suburbs must leave their community to receive inpatient pediatric care. A new hospital give the region access to lower acuity care that’s local “while also bringing new economic opportunities to the region,” the release said.
“The village of Downers Grove cares deeply about its community and works hard to facilitate support for its residents and visitors. We are excited to embrace Lurie Children’s mission to provide world-class care to children and their families. This new facility represents a significant and needed investment in local health infrastructure and pediatric health,” Downers Grove Mayor Bob Barnett said in the release. “New health care facilities are about more than expanding services — they are about being there and caring for our neighbors. We look forward to working with the team at Lurie Children’s and welcoming them to the community.”
“As part of our long-term strategy, expanding access to world-class pediatric care is one of our most important goals,” Richard Lehmuth, senior vice president and chief strategy officer at Lurie Children’s, said in the release. “This new facility will allow us to extend the same high standard of care families expect from Lurie Children’s — delivering that care in a setting that is closer, more convenient and designed with the help of the community.”
In addition to its main hospital in Chicago’s downtown Streeterville neighborhood, Lurie Children’s Schaumburg outpatient center is a 75,000-square-foot, which had a budget of $56 million when it was announced in 2023. The children’s hospital system is also developing the 24,000-square-foot Austin HOPE Center, an outpatient center in Chicago’s West Side neighborhood to open in late 2026.
In all it has more than 20 outpatient centers and 10 partner hospitals across the Chicago area.
The plan, subject to regulatory approvals, will be supported by a design-build team led by Clayco, with local and national health care design and construction expertise f rom Skender, ZGF and LJC, the release said.
