Howard Brown Health announced a multi-year expansion plan that it says will better serve its current and future patients. Howard Brown's new projects will result in health and wellness programs extended to as many as 15,000 additional patients annually by 2024.
Plans include the development of a new and larger Broadway Youth Center to better serve LGBTQ youth; a new clinic on North Halsted Street to relocate the existing practice in Lake View; and a new clinic-anchored community center serving South Side LGBTQ residents.
"As the need for LGBTQ affirming healthcare services continues to grow, Howard Brown is responding with bold plans that will increase capacity citywide to serve more people than ever before," said Howard Brown President and CEO David Ernesto Munar in a statement. "Our patients deserve compassionate and culturally competent care, timely appointment scheduling, shorter wait times for sexual and behavioral healthcare, and social services that affirm the whole person.
Here are the plans, in more detail:
—Once construction is completed in summer 2021, a five-floor, 20,000-square-foot facility at 1023 W. Irving Park Rd. will become the new, permanent home for the Broadway Youth Center ( BYC ). The new location will have a dedicated floor for clinical services and house BYC's vocational, education, and behavioral health services, enabling more outreach, cultural and basic-need programs.
—Howard Brown is in negotiations to acquire 3501 N. Halsted St., presently owned by LJ Bar LLC and operated as Little Jim's Tavern. The proposed development is subject to City Council approval. The new property would double the capacity of the existing Halsted clinic for primary care appointments, provide additional space for walk-in sexual and reproductive healthcare, and house wrap-around and behavioral health services.
— Working to expand access to LGBTQ affirming services on Chicago's South Side, Howard Brown is partnering with Pride Action Tank to lead a comprehensive needs assessment among LGBTQ-identified South Siders. The project will rely on in-person and electronic feedback to gauge service needs and priorities, ultimately guiding the development of a community center bringing together Howard Brown's services with those of ally organizations under one roof. Howard Brown aims to open the new center by 2024.
