Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1501973
" " Illinois Medicine | 7 Our overarching goal with the 55th & Pulaski Health Collaborative is genuine healthcare transformation. Heather M. Prendergast, MD, MPH, MS, EMHA, MBA Partnerships, which supports community engagement and oversees an integrated care coordination model to address the social determinants of health. With a $17.2 million Healthcare Transformation Award from the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS), UI Health moved quickly to renovate the site and roll out services in phases to close the healthcare gap as quickly as possible. By February 2022, with first-floor renovations completed, selected specialists began seeing patients. A formal ribbon-cutting ceremony followed in May. By early fall, residents had access to immediate care services, behavioral and mental health services, disability services for children with autism, and nutritional counseling for people with diabetes and other patients in need. "Since opening its doors, the collaborative has seen over 4,400 community residents," says Heather M. Prendergast, MD '94, MPH '07, MS '14, EMHA '19, MBA '23, associate dean of clinical affairs at the COM and ER physician at UI Health. "Our UI Health physicians have treated more than 2,200 patients for specialty care conditions—including pediatric and adult asthma, women's health, neurology, oncology, kidney disease and heart disease—and provided consultations with general surgeons." Spring 2023 brought a host of new services to the Southwest Side collaborative, including specialty care in endocrinology, ophthalmology, otolaryngology and rheumatology, as well as physical and occupational therapy, a Women's Wellness Center, a dental clinic and advanced diagnostics such as CT scans, ultrasounds and mammography. "Our overarching goal with the 55th & Pulaski Health Collaborative is genuine healthcare transformation," says Dr. Prendergast. "Collaboration with our colleagues and community members and harnessing innovation in technology and community engagement is how we transform healthcare, address health inequities and change health outcomes, particularly in historically underserved neighborhoods. I am excited about what we are doing on the Southwest Side of Chicago. This endeavor truly is the UI Health mission in motion."