Wednesday, April 2, 2025
4/2/2025
Congressionally Directed Spending for Construction Projects - The proposed project will add a new community health center in the Southwest Side neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. The community health center will be part of the redevelopment plan of LeClaire Mosaic Square, which was once home to the LeClaire Courts Public Housing Complex. The residents of this community were displaced when the complex was torn down over 13 years ago. The redevelopment plan will create 675 residential units and of those units, 80% will be allocated to affordable housing with 40% being set aside for the former LeClaire Courts residents. The project will connect local jobs and housing to create a long-term community where residents will have easy walking distance to groceries, retail, and healthcare services. The project has demonstrated strong community engagements by hosting community hearings, meetings with residents, and working groups with stakeholders since 2019. Alivio’s proposal includes a transformative model of an “all-in” approach to improve access to a wide range of health care services including obstetrics and midwifery with a birthing center, behavioral health, pediatrics, adult and family medicine, internal medicine, urgent care center, full-service pharmacy, and dentistry. The health center will also partner with a local hospital for onsite specialty care, advanced diagnostic services including MRI, advanced cardiac and obstetric ultrasounds, ophthalmologic diagnostics, digital mammography, occupational/physical therapy that provide much comprehensive health care services where patients live and work which will improve the health and wellness not just of the individual, but for the entire community. Alivio Medical Center has a fully integrated community engagement component that is strongly committed to addressing social determinants of health and thus realigning the strength of a community. The health center is projected to serve 12,313 patients and render 39,060 visits in the first year and will grow substantially to its full capacity by the third year. The health center is projected to serve over 15,000 patients and render more than 54,000 visits annually at its full capacity. The health care system in the Southwest side of Chicago and the surrounding areas is marked by a scarcity of primary health services for low-income African American, Latino/Hispanic and a growing Asian population, the uninsured or underinsured community. Due to the shortage of these services, the Southwest side of Chicago is in dire need of access to culturally, linguistically, and financially affordable health care. Low-income and uninsured patients face tough decisions every day about paying for medical care versus other basic needs such as housing and food. Many low-income patients can’t afford insurance, placing them at high risk for skipping preventative checkups and care, and studies have shown that preventive health screenings and health consultations in primary care increase life expectancy without increasing costs. As a Federally Qualified Health Center, AMC’s sliding fee scale program ensures those that are low-income and uninsured have access to preventive check-ups in a cost-effective way that will improve their health outcomes greatly. Federal funding for this project will help to ensure that the development of a new comprehensive health center in this high-need community will be able to provide high-quality, affordable healthcare for the new residents of the housing being built as well as residents of the surrounding community. The site construction organization is working with Alivio and key community partners to ensure that the services to be offered will meet the needs of the community in a way that is inclusive, culturally, and linguistically competent and of the highest standards. The funding would be used for capital development of the healthcare center. This represents a significant expansion by Alivio to serve this vulnerable population.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).