Improving asthma treatment for kids on the South Side of Chicago

Asthma is hurting children on Chicago's South Side. In some South Side neighborhoods, up to 59 percent of kids have the dangerous respiratory condition--compared with a rate of only nine percent across the United States.

Health leaders in the area are fighting to do something about it. The University of Chicago Medicine's Urban Health Initiative and the Department of Pediatrics are leading a collaboration of health providers to develop the South Side Pediatric Asthma Center. The objective of the center is to develop and advance a collaborative, innovative and high-quality system of care for pediatric asthma management on the South Side.

UChicago Medicine's partners intend to adopt a pediatric asthma management model to standardize patient education, establish one-stop asthma care on the South Side, and host provider and community education events.

The initiative is founded on four pillars of excellence: clinical, education, community outreach, and research to improve asthma care, diagnosis and treatment for all our kids. With early, standardized treatment, our physicians believe we can provide children with better outcomes for brighter futures.