In The News

The state has agreed to provide tens of millions of dollars to coalitions that are proposing to improve health care on the South and West sides.
A South Side group, a coalition of big and small hospitals and health clinics, will receive approximately $26 million from a state fund created this year. The final amount is subject to final negotiations, a spokesman for the state Department of Healthcare and Family Services said.

With the goal of helping hospitals and clinics improve patient outcomes and reduce health disparities, the state and federal money is part of the $150 million Healthcare & Hospital Transformation plan that Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law in March.

Governor JB Pritzker today announced $94.3 million will be awarded in the state’s inaugural round of Healthcare Transformation Collaboratives funding.

After months of community meetings, town halls, and Zoom calls, the South Side Health Transformation Project (SSHTP) was gratified to hear in January that the Hospital and Healthcare Transformation Bill unanimously passed in the Illinois legislature. Governor JB Pritzker signed it into law mid-March, launching an application process to allocate $150 million each year for the next five years to address health inequity by sustainably improving access and outcomes to healthcare for underserved communities.

Calling it a “giant leap forward” in the mission to reduce inequities across Illinois, Gov. J.B. Pritzker Friday signed into law the Healthcare and Hospital Transformation bill.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed the Healthcare and Hospital Transformation bill into law Friday. The bill will invest $150 million

As faith and community leaders, we were so grateful to see legislators come together a few weeks ago and take serious steps to improve health equity across the state. As faith-based leaders and community organizers, we applaud the unanimous decision of our state legislators to officially start the process for allocating $150 million this year in health transformation funding for neighborhoods where the needs are greatest—especially on our city’s South Side.

A pair of coalitions of hospital, community and church leaders hope to tap tens of millions of dollars in just-approved state money to fund initiatives aimed at addressing health care inequities like those that have long plagued the South and West sides.

At the rate the virus is spreading, January will be the deadliest month of COVID-19 in the United States, with minority communities shouldering the brunt of the consequences. Community leaders, South Side clergy, and healthcare providers in Chicago are urging legislators not to wait to put more healthcare resources into these communities. Now is the time to recognize the disparities, and do something about it.

Three South Side healthcare providers, St. Bernard Hospital, Advocate Trinity Hospital and the University of Chicago Medicine, along with community leaders and faith leaders have joined forces to bring attention to the glaring healthcare disparities that exist on the South Side of Chicago. They’re hopeful that their new community-driven South Side Health Transformation Project will persuade the Illinois General Assembly to award them a sizeable share of $150 million that is available for healthcare transformation in Illinois communities facing the most severe health outcomes, healthcare access, quality, and equity challenges.

Distinct leaders in the South Side of Chicago are eyeing to create a new health care model to address chronic illness and the COVID-19 pandemic that widely affects the Latino community, as well as Blacks.

Medical, community and religious leaders on the South Side are racing to build a new health care model to address chronic illness, poor access to treatment and a pandemic that is disproportionately hitting Black and Latino neighborhoods.