JOLIET — VNA Healthcare held the grand opening of its new Joliet Clinic on Tuesday, attended by local officials who helped secure funding for the project, including US Congressmen Bill Foster and Lauren Underwood.
The VNA has been operating out of a rented facility in Joliet since 2015, but the new facility is owned by the Community Health Center and will allow us to significantly expand our work in the area.
The VNA estimates that the 14,000-square-foot facility will allow an additional 5,000 low-income residents to receive treatment in Joliet through its first 30 months of operation.
“Access to healthcare is an important amenity for everyone, especially for vulnerable communities,” said Mayor Terry Darcy. “This beautiful new facility will significantly increase the number of low-income residents we can serve. We value our partnership with VNA.”
New facility includes 26 laboratories, two rooms for mental and behavioral health treatments, nursing stations, on-site laboratories, kitchen and drive-thru pharmacy, increasing access to full-service healthcare It is intended to make it easier. patient.
In addition to physical and mental health services, the center will also offer parenting and nutrition classes, and the clinic’s wellness assistance program will help eligible people sign up for Medicare and market insurance plans. .
Located at 1501 W. Jefferson St., the center is the VNA’s 16th facility and has received several grants, including a $1.3 million Department of Health Resources Services grant from the 2021 American Rescue Plan and a $500,000 U.S. Rescue Plan. made possible by government funding sources. Federal funding won by Foster and Underwood, and additional state-level funding of $250,000 won by State Representative Dagmala Averah and State Senator Rachel Ventura.
“Providing high-quality, affordable health care to the hard-to-reach population is central to our purpose and we are grateful to be able to expand our reach.”
— Linnea Windell, VNA President and CEO
“During my time representing the sector in Congress, I have witnessed first-hand the VNA’s commitment to providing quality, affordable healthcare for all,” said Foster. “That’s why he’s so proud to have secured $500,000 to support a new medical facility in Joliet. This will fill a critical gap in the care of many people in our community.” will help.”
“If you read about all the budget battles in Washington, this is what we’re fighting for,” Foster said. “The federal budget is a moral document that allows us to expand institutions like this. Those who say we can’t afford decent health care in this country aren’t looking at the other side of the coin. With $140 trillion in wealth and $25 trillion in debt, we have enough money to do it.”
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VNA President and CEO Linnea Windell said the Joliet area is home to more than 60,000 low-income people, but currently has community health centers like the VNA (federally qualified medical care). Also known as centers), only about 23,000 of them were receiving services, he said.
“Providing high-quality, affordable health care to people who have difficulty accessing care is central to our purpose, and we are grateful to be able to expand our reach,” Windell said. Ta.
To facilitate access to services for residents, the VNA accepts uninsured or illegal patients and provides services at night and on weekends.
It also accepts first-time patients without an appointment and provides services in multiple languages.
Windell said most of the support staff at the facility are bilingual in Spanish as well as English, and translation services are available for patients who speak other languages.
The facility is serviced daily by 3 doctors and nurses and 10 support staff, with more to come over time.
When the clinic is fully staffed, it will see up to 10 health care workers each day, which could take three to four years to reach capacity, Windell said.
Services regularly provided by staff include family medicine, obstetrics and gynecology services, pediatrics, psychiatry, case management, and podiatry focused on treating the large number of diabetics in the VNA system.
Other members of VNA’s system-wide staff, including doulas, nutritionists and social workers, will also be accessible through the Joliet Clinic.
“There are over 60,000 people in this community who would not have been served without facilities like this,” Underwood said. “That care needs to be accessible and convenient, and the VNA’s truly comprehensive approach is truly amazing. I am doing it.”
VNA is the largest community health center in the Chicago area, currently providing care to 75,000 patients.
The new Joliet Clinic is part of the organization’s “Growing for Tomorrow” initiative, which has received $5 million in funding to increase the number of patients being treated to 100,000 over the next few years.
