Northwestern Medicine to move obstetric and neonatal services from McHenry to Huntley

Northwestern Medicine will move all obstetric and neonatal services at Northwestern Medicine McHenry Hospital to its Huntley hospital by the end of the year, the system announced Wednesday.

Northwestern Medicine, which operates three hospitals in McHenry County, said in a statement that the goal is to "provide better care to patients of all ages" and by consolidating the two hospitals' teams, patients will receive better inpatient care.

A new outpatient maternal-fetal medicine program also began in Huntley in July to provide high-risk patients care throughout their pregnancies, according to a news release.

All other outpatient women's and children's services, including offices for obstetrics, gynecology and pediatrics, will remain in their current locations throughout McHenry and northern Kane counties.

"We are aligning inpatient women's and children's services at Northwestern Medicine Huntley Hospital to provide an elevated program in one location," Northwestern Memorial HealthCare Senior Vice President Thomas McAfee said in a statement. "With an established affiliation with Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago for 24/7 in-house neonatal and pediatric coverage, we are heightening the level of care we provide to newborns, children and parents, close to home."

Northwestern Medicine McHenry Hospital will continue to offer gynecologic surgery, according to the release.

The McHenry hospital also recently recruited more specialty physicians and opened three newly constructed patient care units that cost $6.2 million. Additional units are also on track to be modernized, a project that carries a price tag of more than $6 million.

"We are growing our cardiovascular surgery and neurosurgery programs at Northwestern Medicine McHenry Hospital to bring more specialty services to our patients," McAfee said in the statement.