Published on August 04, 2010

St. Alexius Medical Center Receives Special Perinatal Designation

(Hoffman Estates, IL) -- St. Alexius Medical Center, Hoffman Estates, has been designated as a Level III facility for perinatal services by the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH).  With this designation, St. Alexius has become a participant in the Illinois Perinatal Network, a comprehensive statewide system designed to coordinate existing healthcare resources and facilities to improve the health outcomes of women and infants in Illinois.

St. Alexius Medical Center delivers more than 3,200 babies a year, Level III status means that St. Alexius is able to provide comprehensive care for women experiencing complicated, high-risk pregnancies and advanced care for newborns with special care needs. St. Alexius Medical Center's neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) has also been designated as Level III and will provide care for the most critically ill newborns, a factor that is a requirement in order to become and remain a Level III perinatal facility.

"The demand for perinatal services in Chicago's northwest suburbs has grown over the last five years as the rate of low birth weight babies and pre-term births continues to rise," said Joan Cappelletti, Administrative Director Women's and Children's Services at St. Alexius.  "St. Alexius Medical Center now has the only Level III perinatal status in the Northwest suburbs, which means that we can provide comprehensive care with 24-hour availability of all essential specialties, personnel and equipment."

Currently the Alexian Brothers Health System (ABHS) offers a full complement of specialized pediatric care provided by more than 160 physicians in 21 pediatric sub-specialties, including as anesthesiology, cardiology, endocrinology, neonatology, neurology, pulmonology, radiology, urology, and neurosurgery.

Recently ABHS announced plans for the Alexian Brothers Children's Hospital, a six-story addition to be built on the southeast corner of St. Alexius Medical Center. Expected to open by the end of 2012, the new hospital will centralize many of ABHS's existing pediatric services, including pediatric developmental and behavioral outpatient treatment and will include pediatric-friendly surgery areas with a dedicated pediatric entrance, pre-op and recovery space, and a new pediatric intensive care unit.