News Release: Northwestern Medicine Announces Bronzeville Location

June 2, 2022 — Northwestern Medicine is planning for a new 120,000-square-foot advanced outpatient care center on the 4800 block of South Cottage Grove Avenue. U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), City of Chicago Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot, and 4th Ward Alderman Sophia King joined Northwestern Medicine leadership and local community members to announce the planned development at a press conference on June 2. Subject to regulatory approval, construction could begin in summer 2023 with a scheduled opening in summer 2025.

“For more than 20 years, Northwestern Medicine has partnered with Bronzeville community organizations to enhance the health and wellness of residents. Every day more than 1,000 patients from Bronzeville and its surrounding communities receive care from Northwestern Medicine,” said Dean M. Harrison, Chief Executive Officer, Northwestern Memorial HealthCare. “This new advanced outpatient care center will provide patients with access to world-class care without having to leave their community.”

“We know that improving health and addressing violence starts with engaging our communities,” U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) said.  “Northwestern Medicine is doing exactly that with their new site in Bronzeville.  As one of the 10 hospitals in the Chicago HEAL Initiative, Northwestern has invested in growing the local health care workforce through career pathway programs like the NM Scholars Program at Westinghouse College Prep. Today’s announcement deepens NM’s commitment under the HEAL Initiative to support our communities and improve health outcomes.”

“Equitable and convenient access to quality healthcare is necessary to creating thriving communities,” said Chicago Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot. “I’m grateful to Northwestern Medicine for expanding their presence to the Bronzeville community, making an incredible difference in the lives of those residents. As they do so, my administration will continue working to improve the health of our communities with a focus on racial equity through initiatives like our signature INVEST South/West neighborhood development initiative.”

“Northwestern Medicine is a welcome addition to a cadre of new developments on the Cottage Grove Corridor. From Shops on Lofts on 47^thStreet, 4400 Grove, the Lillian Marcie Theater Project, to the upcoming Brightstar Turn Center, we are not just experiencing a renaissance, we are experiencing a community led boom. The robust march of development on the corridor is a great example of what happens when the public sector and the private sector work together for the common good,” said 4^thWard Alderman Sophia King.

 

The advanced outpatient care center will reflect the culture of the neighborhood and will offer patients numerous offerings, including:

·       An Immediate Care Center to provide urgent care;

·       Primary and specialty care by Northwestern Medicine physicians;

·       Pharmacy services;

·       Diagnostic services, including mammograms and lab tests;

·       Cancer Center with chemotherapy services;

·       Resources and programming for individual and community health;

·       Opportunities for local retailers.

 

The center is expected to serve more than 50,000 patients and family members from Bronzeville and nearby communities every year. Approximately 1,000 construction and 100 healthcare and related jobs will be created. In 2020, Northwestern Medicine hired a new recruitment manager to identify job candidates from Chicago’s South and West Sides. This will help ensure that patients in Bronzeville will be treated by an inclusive workforce, including nurses and physicians, that mirrors the diversity in the community.

The proposed center aligns geographically with Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot’s $1.4 billion INVEST South/West program. Marshaling over $1.4 billion of investment resources to-date, INVEST South/West is strategically reversing decades of public and private disinvestment on 12 commercial corridors within 10 South and West Side community areas

Northwestern Medicine and Bronzeville: A long-standing partnership

Northwestern Medicine’s mission goes beyond delivering world-class health care. For more than 20 years, the health system has partnered with local organizations in Bronzeville and surrounding areas that have a shared vision of building stronger and healthier neighborhoods.

Near North Komed-Homan Health Center

Northwestern Medicine and the Near North Health Services Corporation have been clinical partners for 55 years. Since the opening of Near North’s Komed-Homan Health Center in 1999, Northwestern Medicine has provided community residents with:

·       Access to clinical and medical care, including mammograms, colonoscopies, X-rays, mental health care, heart care, eye care, and much more.

·       Culturally responsive, user-friendly patient education and advanced medical care for people with Type 2 diabetes.

Bright Star Community Outreach (BSCO)

Since 2014, Northwestern Medicine has partnered with BSCO on a variety of activities, including:

·       NM has supported The Urban Resilience Network (TURN) Center in Bronzeville, which provides counseling and other social services to reduce negative factors that cause violence while increasing opportunities that lead to positive outcomes.

·       NM developed the video series, “Clergy & Clinicians,” with BSCO Founder and CEO Pastor Chris Harris. Each episode features Northwestern Medicine experts discussing topics of key interest to Black and Latinx viewers.

·       NM has partnered with BSCO to recruit residents of the greater Bronzeville area to work at Northwestern Medicine.

 

Chicago HEAL

Launched in 2018 by Senator Richard Durbin, Chicago HEAL (Hospital Engagement, Action and Leadership) is a collaborative effort among Chicago’s 10 largest hospitals, including Northwestern Memorial Hospital, to share best practices to address social risk factors and advance health equity in 18 of Chicago’s neighborhoods with the highest rates of violence, poverty, and inequality. The HEAL initiative focuses on three pillars:

·       Increasing local workforce commitment to reduce economic hardship;

·       Supporting community partnerships to improve the health and safety of public environments;

·       Prioritizing key in-hospital clinical practices to address unmet needs.

For more information about Northwestern Medicine, visit NM.org.