About the Urban Health Initiative
Urban Health Initiative: An Overview
The Urban Health Initiative is a collaboration between the University of Chicago Medical Center (UCMC) and community doctors, nurses, community health centers and hospitals to improve the long-term health of South Side residents. Together, we’re creating a more rational health care system in which patients can get the right care at the right time in the right place.
The South Side community, made up of one million people in more than 30 neighborhoods, has a critical need for quality health care. It’s among the unhealthiest in the country, with high rates of diabetes, asthma, hypertension and other chronic conditions.
The Urban Health Initiative is a long-term commitment by the UCMC to help improve the health status of our surrounding community residents through meaningful collaboration. We are marshaling our financial, intellectual and public policy assets to develop a true health care system that is connected to the community that all patients can access. The initiative’s cornerstone is to ensure community residents have access to quality health care and help patients find a “medical home,” a place where they establish a primary care relationship.
Currently our growing network includes partnerships with almost 20 community health centers and hospitals and more than 60 UCMC doctors working in these locations within the community.
UCMC has an 80-year history of producing new ideas that have a positive impact on society. We think the Urban Health Initiative is one of those ideas. We believe the Urban Health Initiative can serve as a model of urban community care that can be replicated in other cities across the nation that are struggling to increase access to quality health care in low-income neighborhoods.
Urban Health Initiative: The Key Components
The Urban Health Initiative is a multi-faceted program to tackle the community health challenges from several vantage points. It includes the following components:
The South Side Health Collaborative Primary Care Referral Program
The South Side Health Collaborative helps emergency room patients with non-urgent conditions find a medical home that offers appropriate primary care and establish an ongoing relationship with a community health center or physician. »More information about the South Side Health Collaborative
Grants to Expand Capabilities of Our Partners
The University of Chicago Medical Center is providing grants to community health care providers to help them serve more patients with more resources.
Filling Beds at Underutilized Hospitals and Providing UCMC Doctors
The University of Chicago Medical Center (UCMC) is developing partnerships with community hospitals to help make the best use of resources in underutilized hospitals. In addition, UCMC physicians provide care at these partner hospitals. This in turn frees up beds at UCMC for the more complex treatment that can only be provided at an academic medical center.
Encouraging Alumni to Practice in Surrounding, Underserved Communities
The University of Chicago Medical Center funds a program called Repayment for Education to Alumni in Community Health, or REACH, which encourages five graduates a year from the Pritzker School of Medicine to practice medicine in underserved communities on the South Side of Chicago, once they have completed a residency. In exchange, students receive financial help, which can be used for education loan repayment, of $40,000 a year.
Conducting Research to Provide More Effective Community Health Care
The University of Chicago Medical Center (UCMC) will undertake a new research program – funded by federal grants with investment by UCMC – to help translate basic science research into programs that benefit the community. Also, in an effort to marshal UCMC’s intellectual resources, this research will also include the involvement of University social scientists and social workers to help us better understand how to overcome social and/or cultural hurdles to improve community health.
Helping Community Health Centers Grow Their Patient Population
Through co-branding and joint marketing efforts, the University of Chicago Medical Center will help raise awareness among community residents about the health care options available to them, and thereby, help these residents establish a lasting medical home at these community health centers.
Advocating Health Care Policies at the State and Federal Levels
By marshaling the University of Chicago Medical Center’s (UCMC) public policy assets, UCMC advocates in Springfield and Washington are working to advance improved community health care policies.
