January 17, 2025

Endeavor Health opens The Serenity Suite at Edward Hospital

NAPERVILLE, IL – The experience of perinatal loss is deeply challenging, and the environment where this loss occurs can either ease or heighten the pain for grieving parents or family members. Edward Foundation’s efforts to create a quiet, respectful space for processing grief at The Family Birthing Center reflect the importance of providing comfort and sensitivity in such situations.

By partnering with community donors, physicians, and families who have faced similar losses, the foundation aimed to foster a supportive environment. This sanctuary offers an opportunity for healing away from the vibrant, sometimes overwhelming atmosphere of a birthing center. Creating this private space for reflection, silence, and solace allows parents to mourn at their own pace, while feeling the compassion and others who have walked the same path.

The home-like design, featuring comfortable seating, warm lighting, and special items like a bassinet and washtub, helps parents create meaningful memories with their baby in a space that feels personal and intimate. These details provide a sense of familiarity and care, encouraging moments of connection and reflection during an incredibly difficult time.

Practical amenities including a private bathroom, kitchen, and nutritional options, ensures that visitors feel comfortable and cared for, reducing additional stressors. This thoughtful arrangement allows families to spend uninterrupted, precious time together, making The Serenity Suite a vital sanctuary for processing grief and honoring the memory of their child.

M&CA provided all planning, architecture and interior design services.

Edward Hospital is a part of Endeavor Health, a fully integrated healthcare delivery system committed to providing access to quality, vibrant, community-centered care, serving an area of more than 4.2 million residents across six northeast Illinois counties.  It is Illinois’s third largest health system, with total revenue expected to exceed $5 billion in the first year of operation, and the second largest physician network in the state. More than 27,000 team members and more than 6,000 physicians aim to deliver transformative patient experiences and expert care close to home across more than 300 ambulatory locations and eight acute care hospitals – Edward (Naperville), Elmhurst, Evanston, Glenbrook (Glenview), Highland Park, Northwest Community (Arlington Heights) Skokie and Swedish (Chicago) – all recognized as Magnet hospitals for nursing excellence. Located in Naperville, Linden Oaks Behavioral Health, provides for the mental health needs of area residents. 

Since 1974, Matthei & Colin Associates, LLC (M&CA) has specialized in the planning and design of health care environments. Through the passion of our creative effort, we have emerged today as one of the nation’s few firms exclusively dedicated to health care architecture. We are committed to collaborating with our clients by understanding the challenges and recognizing the opportunities.  Our singular focus on designing and creating health care environments and our productive client partnerships result in highly individualized planning recommendations to address the unique requirements of each project. Through a proven process of listening, asking, and creating, we translate dialogue into design.

For more information contact:
Randall Bacidore, AIA, Principal
Matthei & Colin Associates, LLC
[email protected]