By Angela Wells O’Connor

April 26, 2023

The University of Chicago Medicine provided $686.2 million in benefits and services to communities on Chicago’s South Side and in the south suburbs in fiscal 2022, according to the health system’s annual Community Benefit Report. This includes $586.7 million through the University of Chicago Medical Center and $99.5 million through UChicago Medicine Ingalls Memorial. Total investment increased by 13.1% over fiscal 2021.

Community benefit investments include uncompensated care for Medicare and Medicaid patients, financial assistance (charity care), unrecoverable patient debt, medical education and research, and other community support. Financial assistance (charity care) provided through the University of Chicago Medical Center increased 31.7%, up to $27 million.

“Through these investments, along with extensive community health programming and partnerships, UChicago Medicine has made health equity a strategic priority and a guiding organizational value,” said Brenda Battle, RN, BSN, MBA, who leads UChicago Medicine’s Urban Health Initiative and serves as the health system’s Senior Vice President for Community Health Transformation and its Chief Equity Officer. “We are investing in the health and viability of the communities we serve — now and in the years to come.”

Community benefit programs and partnerships are guided by the Urban Health Initiative, the Medical Center’s division that works with community organizations on health-related programs, research and services. UChicago Medicine’s Community Advisory Council, led by civic and faith leaders, also provides guidance to the Medical Center on key community health concerns, including racial disparities and social determinants of health. The Community Advisory Council provided instrumental guidance around the development of the Medical Center’s Level 1 Adult Trauma Center and Violence Recovery Program, both of which will recognize their five-year anniversaries in May 2023.

UChicago Medicine serves more than 626,000 residents in 28 neighborhoods on Chicago’s South Side and nearly 257,000 from 13 ZIP codes in the south suburbs. In these service areas, residents face significant health disparities contributing to shorter lifespans, higher incidence of chronic conditions like diabetes, heart disease and cancer, and increased risk for trauma from community violence. These residents are also vulnerable to harmful social determinants of health, resulting in higher incidence of unemployment, poverty and food insecurity.

“Addressing deep-rooted health inequities requires leveraging strengths and investments across our health system and research community, and importantly, through partnerships connecting us to those who can benefit from UChicago Medicine’s health programming and resources,” said Battle. “Community partners are critical to the reach and effectiveness of these programs, and we are grateful for their work with us to make high-quality healthcare more accessible and equitable.”

The Community Benefit Report highlights some of these partnerships, including:

  • The 13-member South Side Healthy Community Organization collaborative working to increase access to care;
  • The street outreach initiative with Metropolitan Family Services and its Peace Academy to address intentional violence;
  • Equal Hope, which is focused on saving women’s lives by ending health disparities in Illinois, especially for breast and cervical cancers;
  • Several workforce development partnerships and programs designed to increase racial equity and career opportunities for employees and South Side community members.

With extensive community guidance, health priorities for the service areas are assessed and reported every three years through UChicago Medicine’s Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA). The 2021-22 CHNA reported the following health priorities for its South Side service area: prevent and manage chronic disease (cancer, diabetes and heart disease); build trauma resiliency (violence prevention & recovery and mental health); and reduce inequities caused by social determinants of health — underlying contributors to health disparities and chronic disease (access to care, food insecurity, and workforce development).

For Southland communities served by UChicago Medicine Ingalls Memorial, the 2021-22 priorities are: prevent and manage chronic disease (cancer, diabetes and heart disease); provide access to care and services (maternal health and mental health); and reduce inequities caused by social determinants of health (food insecurity and workforce development).

To read the full online report, visit: community.uchicagomedicine.org/2022.