For Your Child/Pediatrics

Advocate Hope Children's Hospital is a children's specialty hospital that combines extraordinary medical expertise with a philosophy that is child-centered in a facility designed with kids in mind. Staffed by more than 140 pediatricians representing over 30 specialties, Hope Children's Hospital is a premier provider of treatment for children.

Sharing its campus with Advocate Christ Medical Center, Hope Children's Hospital opened in 1996 with the vision of providing a superior level of pediatric care to Chicago, the Midwest and even countries around the globe.

When it comes to pediatric heart care, the reputation of Hope Children's Hospital extends far beyond the Chicago area. Children with complex heart problems are referred to the hospital from all parts of the United States, South America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

As the State of Illinois pediatric heart surgery leader in 2001, the pediatric cardiovascular surgeons performed 157 pediatric heart surgeries (26.3 percent of the state's total) through The Heart Institute for Children, headquartered on the campus. These numbers translate into experience�and that's exactly what you'd want when your child has a heart problem.

Led by Michel Ilbawi M.D., the pediatric heart surgical team at Hope Children's Hospital has pioneered numerous procedures and treatments, including the treatment of hypoplasia of the right ventricle, a serious disorder in which an infant's right heart ventricle has failed to develop and consists of too little muscle and too much connective tissue; and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, an inherited disorder in which the walls of the heart muscle become enlarged and obstruct blood flow. And recently, interventional cardiologists at Hope Children's Hospital started using a new device to plug holes in the heart's atrial septum without open-heart surgery. At the forefront of research, cardiologists and cardiovascular surgeons perform a variety of clinical trials with care and concern for their littlest patients.

With one of the largest programs in the Midwest, the hematologists and oncologists who lead the cancer division at Hope Children's Hospital provide diagnostic and treatment services for virtually all childhood cancers, including leukemia, lymphoma, brain tumors, neuroblastoma, and tumors of the kidney. Treatment may include chemotherapy, radiation, and non-commercial investigational agents (clinical trials), available only through the National Cancer Institute. The oncology division f Hope Children's Hospital is a member of The Children's Oncology Group and practices state-of-the-art protocols developed by this national organization.

No parent ever wants to think about needing advanced medical care for a child. But when you do, it's good to know that Hope Children's Hospital has the staff and experience you need. The neonatal intensive care unit cares for critically ill or premature infants in close proximity to mothers who gave birth at Christ Medical Center. Many babies born needing critical care are transported to Hope Children's Hospital from nearby hospitals and those as far away as southern Wisconsin and northwest Indiana. Our pediatric emergency department, that shares a Level I trauma center with Christ Medical Center, is staffed by physicians and nurses specializing in pediatric emergency medicine.

It's a scary time when children need surgery, for both adults and children. Hope Children's Hospital physicians and staff are trained to care for the special needs of a child's physical development and emotional needs as well. Parenting resources were developed to help parents prepare their child for a hospital stay and give children and their families a chance to visit the operating room and meet the staff prior to the operation during the Wee Care Surgery Orientation Tour.

Hope Children's Hospital is also home to numerous multidisciplinary clinics that cover everything from cerebral palsy, cleft palate, diabetes, Down Syndrome, feeding and swallowing, rehabilitation and development to Spina Bifida.

An educational outlet, the on-campus resource center helps parents learn all they can about their child's condition, while child life services help children cope with their illness. A series of classes and support groups are also sponsored by Hope Children's Hospital.