New school health care center serves Brighton Park

Those celebrating the opening of the Davis Health and Wellness Center included (from left): Joe G.N. “Skip” Garcia, vice president for health affairs; Henry Taylor, Mile Square Health Centers; Rev. Randall Harris; Patrick Brosnan, Brighton Park Neighborhood Council; Santos Gomez, Davis principal; Cynthia Boyd and Regina Ortiz, UIC Office of Community Engagement and Neighborhood Health Partnerships.

A new health center will provide care for students in Chicago’s Brighton Park neighborhood, a medically underserved community, through a partnership with UIC and UI Health.

The Davis Health and Wellness Center at 3050 W. 39th Place, the first school health center in the Brighton Park community, will serve students of Davis Elementary, Burroughs Elementary and other Brighton Park schools.

The federally qualified health center is a partnership of UI Health, the UIC Office of Community Engagement and Neighborhood Health Partnerships, Mile Square Health Center, the Brighton Park Neighborhood Council and the Chicago Public Schools.

The health center is funded through two grants from the Health Resource and Service Administration and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation of Illinois.

Because Brighton Park is a medically underserved community with a shortage of health care providers, plans call for the clinic to eventually serve family members and community residents.

The clinic, a nurse practitioner practice, is staffed by advanced-practice nurses, a mental health professional, nurse educator, nutritionist and support staff.  Three community outreach workers will help families prepare for changes under health reform.

Community members come out to support the new Davis Health Center.

The Davis center is one of four school-located health centers sponsored by UI Health.  The others are at Young Women’s Leadership Charter School, 2641 S. Calumet Ave.; National Teachers Academy, 55 W. Cermak Road; and Hope Health and Wellness Center, 1628 W. Washington Blvd.

All serve an educational role as practice sites for UIC student health professionals.

The clinic officially opened with a ribbon cutting Feb. 19 and a tour of the facility for children, their families and community members.

smcginn@uic.edu