Northwestern Medicine sets date for obstetric, neonatal consolidation at Huntley

Starting Dec. 21, births planned for Northwestern Medicine McHenry Hospital will take place in Huntley instead.

A 7-1 vote by the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board on Tuesday means that Northwestern Medicine can move ahead with its plans to consolidate obstetrics and newborn services at Northwestern Medicine Huntley Hospital, eliminating all but emergency births from its McHenry location.

The transition will take effect at 7 a.m. Dec. 21, Northwestern Medicine said in an announcement Friday.

The change shouldn’t be a surprise to any expectant mothers, spokeswoman Jill Edgeworth said in an email. Updates were provided to physicians and staff so that they were aware of the situation and could work with their patients to ensure they were notified and prepared for the transition.

All outpatient women’s and children’s services, including offices in obstetrics, gynecology and pediatrics, will remain at existing offices throughout McHenry County and northern Kane County, according to a news release. Northwestern Medicine McHenry Hospital will maintain Level II trauma status with an obstetrics and gynecology physician on call, and also will continue to offer gynecologic surgery.

The hospital system has billed the consolidation as a way of providing better, more expansive pregnancy services to patients in McHenry County, although opponents worried what the increased drive times could mean for patients.

“Centralizing our inpatient women’s and children services in McHenry County will allow us to offer a comprehensive obstetric and neonatal center in one location,” Northwestern Medicine 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, closer to home.”

The decision to consolidate obstetrics care in Huntley will open up space at the McHenry hospital, allowing Northwestern Medicine to meet the changing needs of McHenry County residents as a whole, the health system said.

Northwestern Medicine has seen a significant increase in cardiovascular and neurosurgery patient needs in particular, and in response, the McHenry hospital has recruited new specialty physicians, including one who performed the hospital’s first procedure implanting a device into a patient’s heart designed to reduce the risk of strokes and replace blood thinners.