Daily Herald opinion: Lurie Children's Hospital brings welcome plans for a Schaumburg outpatient center

There is nothing we won't do for our kids.

With the amount of money suburbanites spend on them for such things as schools, sports and health care, we expect the best.

So it should be welcome news that Lurie Children's Hospital - consistently ranked the best children's hospital in the state - is going to build a 75,000-square-foot outpatient center in Schaumburg.

Approval of the plan was a no-brainer for the Schaumburg zoning board of appeals, which recommended it to the village board, as well as village trustees, who put it on their consent agenda, passing the measure with a 5-0 vote and no discussion. There was nary a complaint lodged at a public hearing.

This facility is expected to be open by August 2025 at 1994 N. Roselle Road and replace existing smaller facilities in Huntley and at Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights.

Such a facility would enjoy the economies of scale that don't exist in smaller operations, portending good things for the quality of staff, equipment and the facility itself.

And the Schaumburg location puts it in the center of the Northwest Suburbs, accessible to a vast suburban population that might find a trip to Lurie's main hospital just off the Mag Mile in Chicago prohibitive.

In a letter outlining the project, Lurie officials cite a 150% increase over the past decade in patient visits to their satellite locations, which have limited access and extended wait lists.

This also would be the first hospital in Schaumburg. It represents a $60 million investment in just shy of six acres at Roselle Road and Hillcrest Boulevard, with hotels nearby.

The existing hospital in Chicago ranks first in U.S. News & World Report's rankings for children's hospitals in Illinois, but it also ranks Lurie in the Top 25 in the country in nine areas of specialty for children.

Lurie has a strong reputation to uphold when it staffs the Schaumburg location.

It is expected to offer primary care, an Ambulatory Infusion Center, comprehensive pediatric specialty care, including cardiology, neurology and urology, as well as orthopedic and pediatric surgeries. It also would have therapeutic, rehabilitation and diagnostic and imaging services such as audiology, cardiac rehab and ultrasound, according to a story by our Eric Peterson.

Hospital officials anticipate seeing 60,000 patients in the first year of operation.

A number of hospitals in the suburbs offer excellent pediatric care, but when such a revered hospital that deals with the toughest cases comes calling, Schaumburg would have been foolish to say no.

Welcome to Schaumburg, Lurie.