As the hub of a state-designated regional network, the University of Chicago Medicine Perinatal Center assists the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) with the oversight of the Regionalized Perinatal Health Care Program. The Perinatal Center works with 14 area hospitals to provide the highest level of care to appropriate high risk maternal and fetal patients. Our perinatal network was organized to improve maternal-fetal and neonatal care and reduce infant mortality rates in targeted communities.
The University of Chicago Medicine Perinatal Network’s institutions now receive referrals for the highest level of complex maternal-fetal and neonatal care from hospitals in Cook, DuPage, Will, Kankakee and Kane counties in Illinois, and Lake County in Indiana.
The network offers a range of services in the metro Chicago region, including:
- Administration and implementation of the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) Regionalized Perinatal Health Care Program
- 24/7 transport & consultation services for high-risk obstetric and neonatal care
- Weekly transport, patient follow-up and discharge summary information
- Professional educational outreach opportunities for nurses and physicians provided by obstetric and neonatal nurse educators and maternal-fetal medicine physicians
- Quarterly perinatal morbidity and mortality reviews with each individual network hospital
- Individual network hospital site reviews every three years to evaluate perinatal services, resources and patient outcomes
- Guidance and support of quality improvement (QI) initiatives
- Data collection and analysis