Chicago Family to open school-based health center

December 2007

Chicago Family Health Center is expanding again!

To better serve the residents on the far southeast side of Chicago, Chicago Family will open a school-based health center in George Washington High School in 2008. Chicago Family has operated a resource center at the school for the past five years. The new health center will expand on the current resource center and provide a full range of services not only to students, but also to school personnel and to the community.

”The opening of a school-based health center is another step toward our mission to provide affordable, accessible healthcare to the underserved community,“ CEO Wendy Cox said. ”By opening a school-based site, Chicago Family is reaching out to a very vulnerable population in our community, which has limited access to healthcare.“

The location within the high school offers a unique opportunity for Chicago Family. While the Center will serve all those who seek care, specifically within the East Side and South Deering communities, it also provides a resource for adolescents, who are often reported to have the lowest access to healthcare. School-based health centers (SBHC) allow healthcare staff to develop substantive relationships with high-risk children and youth. The center will also impact the school’s need for meeting mandatory school physicals and immunization deadlines, decreasing the exclusions for the school that happen every October.

Studies show that school-based health centers reduce the number of hospitalizations and emergency room visits, decrease smoking tobacco and marijuana usage, decrease the incidence of teen pregnancy, increase the knowledge about health among youth, reduce school absences, and lower the school dropout rate.

The new site, at 3535 E. 114th St., is in the East Side community. It will provide a full range of services from lab to actual school physicals, whereas the resource center only provides information, screenings and education. The Center will encompass 2,500 square feet. Once renovations are complete, the center will have six exam rooms, a laboratory, a reception area, nurse’s station, and offices for medical case management and social services. The health center will be accessible year-round through an external entrance.