State regulatory board OKs UChicago Medicine’s request for new downtown facility
The Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board (IHFSRB) has approved the University of Chicago Medicine’s application to provide expanded ambulatory services in the downtown area through the consolidation of two existing clinics.
The project will fold the clinics at 150 E. Huron St. and 680 N. Lake Shore Drive into a larger space at 355 E. Grand Ave. The academic health system seeks to better serve an estimated population of 387,500 people who commute to the six ZIP codes surrounding the new facility as well as the roughly 62,000 residents in our planning area who travel to downtown. It will be a part of UChicago Medicine’s network, which includes its primary Hyde Park campus, an anchor provider for the South Side community.
“With this project, UChicago Medicine for the first time in its history is opening a facility that will offer immediate care at an off-site location,” said Kenneth S. Polonsky, MD, dean and executive vice president for medical affairs at the University of Chicago. “This is in recognition of patients’ growing needs to access quality health care when their physicians’ offices are closed or when they need urgent medical attention that isn’t life threatening.”
Other services at the new location will include primary care, cardiology, nephrology, urology, rheumatology surgery, dermatology, gastroenterology, sleep-disorder care and women’s health, including mammography.
The new facility, with 40,689 departmental gross square feet (DGSF) over two floors, will build off and expand upon the care provided by two existing downtown locations. The 150 E. Huron clinic, with 15,488 DGSF, has been offering multispecialty services since 2009. The 680 N. Lake Shore office, with 5,855 DGSF, has provided women’s health care since 2016.
"This $17 million construction project represents a continuation to develop UChicago Medicine’s footprint and reach, increase access and convenience for our patients, and meet the growing demand for health services in the area," Polonsky said. "We are very pleased with the IHFSRB decision."
Construction will begin in January 2019, with an expected completion date of late 2019.