Edward-Elmhurst Health and the University of Chicago Medicine have reached an agreement to expand access to advanced subspecialty care for infants and children in west and southwest suburban communities. The affiliation will bring nationally recognized UChicago Medicine Comer Children's Hospital experts across a dozen pediatric subspecialties to new outpatient clinics at Edward Hospital in Naperville and Elmhurst Hospital.
The expansion of services beginning this month includes pediatric gastroenterology, pulmonary and rheumatology, with plans to add subspecialties such as sport medicine, cardiology, hematology/oncology, neurology and sleep medicine this fall. In addition, Comer Children's doctors with expertise in infectious diseases and nephrology will be available for consultation.
The affiliation builds on a longstanding UChicago Medicine-Edward Hospital relationship. For more than eight years, Comer Children's oncologists have provided advanced care for Edward patients fighting complex childhood cancers.
"Our primary goal is to provide the most comprehensive care possible for newborns and children closer to home," said Pam Davis, System CEO, Edward-Elmhurst Health. "Along with more than 100 independent pediatric subspecialty providers we have on staff, University of Chicago Medicine helps us fulfill that commitment with its nationally recognized physicians and care."
Edward-Elmhurst Health, created by the merger of Edward Hospital and Elmhurst Memorial Healthcare in 2013, is one the larger integrated health systems in Illinois. Since then, Edward-Elmhurst Health has continually sought new opportunities to enhance and grow its broad range of high-quality service offerings to best serve the health needs of communities throughout the west and southwest regions.
The University of Chicago Medicine is among the nation's leading academic medical institutions, attracting patients regionally, nationally and internationally for specialty care services. Its faculty physicians undertake research in an extensive array of areas and are among the top recipients of federal research dollars.
"Edward-Elmhurst Health has demonstrated its strong commitment to provide the highest level of care to every family it serves," said Kenneth S. Polonsky, MD, executive vice president for medical affairs at the University of Chicago and dean of the Biological Sciences Division and the Pritzker School of Medicine. "We're pleased to have this opportunity offer greater access to some our best and brightest physicians and advanced therapies to children across the west and southwest regions."
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