UChicago Medicine opened a new women's health clinic in Glenview dedicated to treating pelvic floor disorders like bladder leakage and pelvic organ prolapse, then moved the center to a permanent home in Northbrook on Feb. 5, 2024. The outpatient site offers both in-person and virtual visits, giving North Shore families a closer option for conditions that have historically gone undertreated.
According to Chicago Parent, the Glenview location is staffed by four board-certified, fellowship-trained urogynecologists who treat complex pelvic health conditions, while any necessary surgery is performed at UChicago Medicine's Hyde Park campus. Urogynecology is a subspecialty focused on pelvic floor disorders in women, and the outlet notes that pregnancy and childbirth contribute to these conditions, which affect women across a wide age range. The Northbrook office at 400 Skokie Blvd. opened Feb. 5, 2024, after UChicago Medicine moved there from a temporary Glenview location, and offers urogynecology services, according to UChicago Medicine.
Leadership Behind the Program
Dr. Kimberly Kenton serves as chief of UChicago Medicine's section of gynecology and reconstructive pelvic surgery and is a professor of obstetrics and gynecology, per the same report. She was recruited to the role in May 2023 from Northwestern Medicine, where she had directed the Women's Integrated Pelvic Health Program, according to the University of Chicago Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Dr. Sarah Collins, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology, Dr. Christina Lewicky-Gaupp, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology, and Dr. Margaret Mueller, also an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology, round out the clinical team, Chicago Parent reports.
“We are committed to providing better, closer and faster access to our health system's exceptional women's healthcare, which means giving patients more convenient location options that are closer to their homes,” said Dr. Ernst Lengyel, as quoted by Chicago Parent. The new location builds on UChicago Medicine's growing network of medical and surgical specialty sites across Chicagoland, the outlet notes, with the health system based in Hyde Park.
Why the Suburban Push Keeps Growing
UChicago Medicine's North Shore expansion fits into a broader systemwide push beyond its main Hyde Park campus, with the health system also operating suburban specialty centers in Orland Park and Hinsdale, according to UChicago Medicine. The Northbrook site that now houses the Glenview clinic is designed to integrate urogynecology with other specialized services, including minimally invasive gynecology for fibroids and endometriosis as well as gastrointestinal care with non-chemotherapy infusion services, per the health system's description of the location.
To build awareness of the program among North Shore commuters, UChicago Medicine launched a marketing campaign called “Live Again” in May 2023, featuring Metra transit bulletins in Glenview, Highland Park, and Evanston. That campaign drove nearly 2,275 appointments over its first 16 months, according to the Shorty Awards, a sign of how much latent demand existed for specialized pelvic health services in the suburbs before the clinic even opened.
A Growing and Underserved Population
The clinical need behind the expansion is backed by national data. A nationally representative study funded by the National Institutes of Health found that roughly 24% of adult U.S. women suffer from one or more pelvic floor disorders, with prevalence rising to over 40% among women aged 60 to 79 and nearly 50% for those 80 and older, according to the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Separate demographic projection research published in Obstetrics & Gynecology forecasted that the total number of American women with symptomatic pelvic floor disorders will grow 56%, from 28.1 million in 2010 to 43.8 million by 2050, according to findings indexed on PubMed.
That growth is expected to translate directly into surgical demand. A national health study projected that surgical procedures for stress urinary incontinence among U.S. women will increase 47% by 2050, while surgical repairs for pelvic organ prolapse will rise by 48%, according to research published on PubMed Central. UChicago Medicine's urogynecology section specializes in minimally invasive, robotic, and laparoscopic surgical approaches to repair complex pelvic organ prolapse and lower urinary tract injuries, avoiding traditional open abdominal procedures, according to the University of Chicago Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Beyond Surgery: Non-Invasive Treatment Options
Not every patient needs an operation. UChicago Medicine also incorporates specialized pelvic floor physical therapy into its suburban care, using non-invasive techniques like biofeedback, electrical stimulation, and targeted muscle retraining to treat post-childbirth and age-related symptoms, according to the health system's own description of its treatment offerings.
The Glenview opening adds to a string of recent UChicago Medicine expansion announcements across the region. The health system's planned Valparaiso facility is expected to open in 2027, part of the same regional growth strategy that brought specialized pelvic health care to Glenview and Northbrook.
