The Chicago children’s hospital is investing more than a million dollars in a new facility to address a critical need.
The Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago plans to invest $1.45 million to build its first specialty pharmacy to meet a growing need of pediatric patients.
The new pharmacy is in partnership with Boston-based Clearway Health, a provider of specialty pharmacy services.
The 2,000-square-foot facility will be built at Lurie’s new Outpatient and Infusion Center at 1895 Arbor Glen Blvd. in Schaumburg.
The hospital decided not to build the pharmacy at its main campus in Streeterville.
“Specialty pharmaceuticals are mailed to patients at home over 95% of the time, so having it downtown is not necessary,” said Rich Lehmuth, Lurie’s senior vice president and chief strategy officer.
Delivery is expected late 2026.
“Children with chronic and complex conditions are the ones who most frequently benefit from specialty pharmaceuticals,” Lehmuth said.
Upon completion, the new pharmacy aims to improve access for pediatric patients with complex medical conditions that require specialty medications not available at retail pharmacies.
“The specialty pharmacy sector is complicated and very important to our patients,” Lehmuth said. “We believed working with Clearway would help us establish the pharmacy [and] would accelerate our ability to bring the pharmacy online and to more of our patients faster.”
The new pharmacy will also create a sustainable growth asset for the medical center, enabling long-term financial stability, the hospital said.
The general contractor for the project is Skender and the architecture firm is HKS.
The move comes on the heels of Saint Joseph Medical Center in Joliet announcing its plans this week to suspend inpatient pediatric care, citing the unit averages less than one patient a day. Instead, the hospital said it will transfer pediatric patients to other hospitals, such as Edward Hospital, Silver Cross Hospital and Lurie Children’s Hospital.
The news also comes as national retailers such as CVS, Rite Aid and Walgreens are closing thousands of U.S. retail pharmacies.
Sign up for the Business Journal’s free daily newsletter to receive the latest business news impacting Chicago.
