Families of some of Chicago's youngest patients are packing up Friday for their big move to a new home.
Children's Memorial Hospital will transport about 170 hospitalized children by ambulance from the Lincoln Park facility to the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital, a new $855 million state-of-the-art hospital in Streeterville.
It's a three-mile move but for some it could take two hours. The most fragile patients will be accompanied by a team of six, including a surgeon.
Hospital officials say the move in total will take between 10 and 18 hours.
"When we move perhaps 170 patients, I think we'll all breathe easy when everyone's tucked in, safely in their bed at night, knowing that they'll get the best care possible that we could ever provide to them," said Patrick Magoon, CEO of Children's Hospital.
For the past two weeks, hospital employees met with families to explain the process and answer any questions.
Fullerton Avenue will shut down starting at 4 a.m. Saturday between Lincoln Avenue and Lake Shore Drive as ambulances travel through Lincoln Park starting around 5 a.m. Families and moving trucks will take Lincoln and Halsted to the new location.
Parking will be restricted near Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital, and the Chicago Cubs have asked Brad Paisley concertgoers in Wrigleyville to use alternate routes to Wrigley Field while the move takes place.
