For many years, a large green sign has been in the windows of Rush University Medical Center along Eisenhower Highway inviting Chicagoans to become part of our team: “Join Rush. Apply today.”
This week, plans will be unveiled for a new show that will capture the attention of thousands of policymakers attending the Democratic National Convention: “Who Gets a Chance to Be Healthy?”
The ambitious answer should be obvious to everyone. But this question raises a straightforward and realistic issue: it depends on where you live.
In 2019, NYU School of Medicine identified Chicago as the city with the largest life expectancy gap in the country, with a 30-year gap between residents of Streeterville and Englewood. These communities, just nine miles apart, are evidence of how much work remains to close the health care equity gap.
Meaningful impact starts at the community level, and we have developed robust, replicable investment models. Advances in integrating biological and social data are now helping us understand how the social determinants of health—traditional non-medical factors like employment and where someone lives—can explain more than half of an individual’s health.
This new evidence proves what we've known for a long time: it makes more sense to treat the root causes of disease, not just the symptoms.
Evidence suggests that barriers to good health often exist outside hospitals, clinics, or doctors’ offices. Progress means developing community-level programs, in partnership with community members, where the health and well-being of the entire neighborhood is the focus.
The Sankofa Health and Wellness Village, a community-led partnership being built in Garfield Park, is a concrete example. It will not only provide mental health and disease prevention services, but also provide recreational and financial opportunities that support those facing negative social determinants of health.
In West Side neighborhoods, Rush has partnered with community development financial institutions to lend money to small businesses and nonprofits that are building affordable housing and making healthy food more accessible.
Another example: For years, Rush had been shipping its laundry out of state to be cleaned—which was a huge boost. Then, with the help of the Steens Family Foundation, we realized we could leverage our purchasing power and support our community. This summer, we helped launch Fillmore Linen Service in North Lawndale, a laundry facility that will handle hospital linens. Imagine the purchasing power of our collective foundations in Chicago and how we can start locally to support our communities.
Health care is essential to improving health and extending life, but it is not enough. The Rush Foundation continues to expand its network as a foundation in Chicago, and we urge more lawmakers and local leaders to join in these efforts.
Organizations, policymakers, businesses, and communities have countless ways to close the life expectancy gap. And when we consider the complex question, “Who gets the chance to be healthy?” our answer is simple: Everyone should be healthy.
And at this moment of opportunity, with thousands of distinguished visitors flocking to Chicago at the United Center, just across the highway, we hope they are listening.
David Ansell, MD, is senior vice president for community health equity, and John Rich, MD, is director of the RUSH BMO Institute for Health Equity at Rush University Medical Center.
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