CHICAGO (CBS) — A $1 billion investment to improve health and wellness on Chicago's South Side was announced Tuesday — with a new lakeside hospital and 10 care sites.
Mayor Brandon Johnson was on hand for Advocate Health Care's announcement on Tuesday.
“Citizens on Chicago’s South Side generally live 30 years less than their counterparts a few miles north on the city’s North Side – simply because of where they live,” said Dea Nichols, president of Advocate Health Care. Because of their zip code.”
In a massive effort to change that statistic, a new hospital will be built on a 23-acre site in the South Chicago lakefront neighborhood near Rainbow Beach, which has become a forest in the 30 years since US Steel vacated it.
Advocate Health on Monday announced a new $300 million hospital with 52 beds, a 16-room emergency room and more than 1,000 new jobs created over the three years.
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But the new hospital is only one part of a billion-dollar project.
A larger $500 million investment will be directed toward 10 new outpatient facilities throughout the South Side that will add 85,000 health care appointments each year – with dynamic locations.
“These sites will serve the entire family,” said Dr. Michelle Blakely, president of Advocate Trinity Hospital. “They will be located in churches, community centers and more.”
The first care centers will open early next year at the South Side YMCA, 6330 S. Stony Island Ave., in a watershed moment to combat the disparity in life expectancy between the city's North and South sides.
“This billion-dollar investment by Advocate is a statement — and I don't mean this in a political sense, but in a literal sense — it shows that our lives matter,” said Illinois Rep. Curtis J. Tarver II (D-Chicago). “They are important.”
Additional community health sites will open in churches and community centers after the new year.
The hospital to be built on the site of the old US Steel will replace the 115-year-old Advocate Trinity Hospital on 93rd Street. Advocate Trinity will remain open until the new hospital opens its doors.
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Chris Tye
