Center for Healthy Families

The Center for Healthy Families (CHF) at University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children’s Hospital provides follow-up outpatient care for babies who continue to need specialized care after leaving the NICU. The center helps families manage babies’ medical needs with primary care and neurodevelopmental follow-up care all under the oversight of a neonatologist.

Because NICU families face a unique set of stressors and medical challenges, they may need extra support as they navigate the transition home.

In these cases, overwhelmed new parents may have to:

• Coordinate with multiple specialists
• Manage medical equipment at home
• Bring their child back for additional monitoring or treatment

This is all while making sure their infant is hitting a set of developmental milestones that may be different from other babies.

Learn more about Center for Healthy Families medical director, Dr. Andrews

Leaders in Research

The Center for Healthy Families leads research in key areas that support optimal health and development of the NICU graduate. Our current research focuses on:

• Finding the best ways to support families using the Preeme+You mobile application.
• Examining the microbiome to inform our care strategies to foster optimal neurodevelopment via the Center for the Science of Early Trajectories.

Bringing a Neonatology Perspective

The most complex infants, approximately 10 to 15% of  NICU admissions each year, end up being referred to CHF for ongoing care.

The center typically cares for around 500 infants and young children at a time, following patients until they no longer need a higher level of care, or until around age five when they can access developmental services through the school system.

The expertise of a neonatologist is one thing that sets CHF apart.

A general pediatrician may be unsure of what to do with a child who is on oxygen, has a feeding tube, or takes a specialized medicine. Our neonatologist takes a holistic approach to neonatal and pediatric care, while delving deep into the complexities of their medical care.

Respecting Parents' Expertise

The Center for Healthy Families takes a family-centered approach to care that respects the significant time parents have already invested in seeing their child through medical challenges.

The CHF will work with the family to help them with the transition from the regimented care of the NICU to the new challenge of caring for the baby at home. Our team also makes sure the family understands each baby’s unique care needs, including:

• Any subspecialists involved.
• Any medications and equipment.
• The plan for regular welfare visits and immunizations.
• Developmental assessments and services.

If a patient becomes ill, our team will personally call the ER to coordinate care and alert physicians to the patient’s condition and history.