Chicago-based Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital is seeking approval from Illinois regulators for 24 more intensive care unit beds for children with cancer and blood disorders, according to the Chicago Tribune.
If the proposal is approved, the hospital will double the number of ICU beds at a cost of $27 million.
According to the hospital's application, other Chicago hospitals have slashed more than 170 pediatric beds from their facilities in the past five years, spurring the need for additional beds.
"As a result [of the reduction in bed count at other hospitals], many of the patients who would have been seen at these hospitals are now transferred to Lurie Children's or other pediatric centers in the Chicago area," the application reads, according to the Chicago Tribune.