Chicago Family Health Center Receives Funding To Expand Dental Services For South Chicago Community

October 13, 2006

CFHC receives $350,000 for the next three years for dental operations

The lack of affordable, accessible dental services has plagued the South Chicago community for years. Now, with the help of a three year grant, Chicago Family Health Center (CFHC) will be able to expand and provide dental services to the uninsured, underinsured and medically underserved patients who are seeking these services.

The CFHC Dental Clinic, located at 9119 South Exchange, has been providing dental services to the community for over 20 years. The dental clinic provides emergency, preventive, basic restorative and some complex restorative services to over 3,800 patients a year. As part of a 30,000 square foot expansion project, the clinic will be adding three dental suites to the existing five suites, bringing the total to eight suites. The existing Dental program is woefully over capacity, currently serving 3,800 patients with a more than four month wait for an appointment. When construction is complete, wait times for appointments will decrease and the dental capacity of the clinic will increase by 2,000 new patients a year.

“Chicago Family Health Center is the only dental provider in the communities we serve that offers a sliding scale plan for uninsured patients. With dental services at a premium, the grant will provide these much needed services to the community,” says Wendy Cox, Chief Executive Officer of CFHC.

The Grant was a result of a visit by the Illinois State House Majority Leader, Barbara Flynn Currie. “The Majority Leader worked on behalf of CFHC and the community residents to secure these much-needed funds for CFHC,” says Cox.

With the Majority Leader and State Senator’s help, the newly expanded Dental Clinic will begin to see new patients in spring 2007. “At a time when families struggled to obtain critical health care services, Chicago Family Health Center rose to the occasion to ensure that residents had access to the care that they needed. Today, almost 30 years later, CFHC continues to provide comprehensive health care to residents regardless of race, age or ability to pay. The new dental clinic will allow the center to meet the increasing demand for dental services and expand its reach to more residents,” according to Majority Leader Currie.

Chicago Family Health Center is a community-based, non-profit health center that provides comprehensive, accessible primary healthcare to the residents of South Chicago, Roseland and surrounding communities. In 2005, CFHC served over 17,000 patients regardless of their ability to pay.

For more information, call Kathryn L. McLain at (773) 768-5000 extension 1144.