Centering Community is Core to Health Equity
UIC's academic health enterprise, UI Health, is based in the nation's largest urban healthcare community: the Illinois Medical District (IMD). Centered at the gateway to Chicago's South and West Sides, UI Health is committed to providing high-quality, innovative health and wellness services to some of the nation's most diverse communities. As the state's only public academic health enterprise with seven health science colleges and diverse health professions programs, UI Health is uniquely positioned to train future healthcare leaders, pursue innovative research, and translate our expertise to compassionate patient care for neighborhoods across Chicago, communities throughout Illinois, and beyond. UI Health's commitment to the community is a responsibility to engage our patients and community partners to address health disparities in pursuit of health equity.
The UI Health community remains actively engaged with communities locally and across the state to design health interventions and practices that can improve the health and well-being of patients and their families. Listed below are some of the distinct UIC programs and centers that are dedicated to supporting communities in taking control of their health and wellness.
Featured Community Health Initiatives
Community Outreach Intervention Projects (COIP)
Part of the UIC School of Public Health, COIP was founded in 1986 to address HIV/AIDS, particularly among people who use drugs. Operating from storefront sites in Austin, Humboldt Park, West Englewood, South Chicago and Uptown, as well as mobile units that serve additional communities, COIP provides street-level interventions for people with substance use disorder, as well as for people with HIV, hepatitis or other infectious diseases associated with substance use. COIP employs the Indigenous Leader Outreach Model, in which former drug users deliver the intervention services and assist in conducting community-based research.
Illinois Heart Rescue (LIHR)
Launched in 2012, this program at the University of Illinois College of Medicine has made great strides in increasing the chances of surviving a sudden cardiac arrest. By training community members in the proper application of CPR, the program ensures that bystanders can intervene and provide life-saving CPR until medical professionals arrive on the scene.
ILHR has trained more than 30,000 Chicagoans in CPR and provided over 50 automated external defibrillators to groups that could not afford them. Marginalized Chicago communities served by the program have seen significant increases in the percentage of cases where bystander CPR was performed, with increases as high as 53%.
Community Health Advocacy (CHA) Program
UI Health faculty are partnering with OSF HealthCare clinicians to develop innovative solutions to health-related problems in urban communities, through the Community Health Advocacy (CHA) program at UIC Innovation. A total of 48 grants have been awarded to 115 researchers to support health innovation, with more than $3.8 million awarded overall. Projects selected for funding have focused on developing solutions address social determinants of health, improving outcomes and reducing health care disparities, and increasing access and reducing barriers to care.
Community at the Center of Health Care and Research
Office of Community Based Practice at Mile Square Health Center
The Office of Community Based Practice (CBP) aims to involve community members, community based organizations, local agencies, researchers, and other stakeholders as partners in the mission to foster equitable access and delivery of comprehensive, quality care for all Chicagoans seeking care at the Mile Square Health Centers (i.e., health care screenings, preventive consultation, diagnostic services, and treatment) and affiliated clinics through research, evaluation, and learning. The overarching goal of CBP is to eradicate health inequities, promote continuum of care, and improve health outcomes.
Community Engagement and Health Equity Office at the UI Cancer Center
The University of Illinois Cancer Center is the only public university-based cancer center in Chicago dedicated to the pursuit of health equity and erasing disparities in the prevention, screening and treatment of cancer. The Cancer Center’s Community Engagement and Health Equity Office (CEHE) works to decrease cancer burden and increase access across the cancer care continuum by building relationships with community partners to increase access to cancer screening and care, to disseminate knowledge, and to advocate for meaningful public policy reform.
In 2024, CEHE empowered over 75,000 patients through education and preventive measures at 201 community events and with 383 community partners.
Office of Community Engagement and Health Partnerships
The Office of Community Engagement and Neighborhood Health Partnerships (OCEAN-HP) supports unique partnerships with a focus on developing, facilitating and sustaining viable and mutually beneficial campus-community partnerships. Major areas of concentration include health professional and lay health worker education; consumer health and wellness education; community-engaged research, research dissemination and implementation; and community-based health services including primary and behavioral healthcare services.
Community Health Needs Assessment
UI Health performs tri-annual community health needs assessments to identify and prioritize the health needs of people who live in the communities we serve. The 2022-2023 UI-CAN (UI Health-Community Assessment of Need) and 2023 Implementation Plan are now available, discussing physical and mental health conditions, challenges in accessing care, and the social and economic factors that impact health and charting a plan to address these needs over the next 3 years.
The Community Engagement Advisory Board of CCTS
Members of the Community Engagement Advisory Board for the Center for Clinical and Translation al Science (CCTS) are vital ambassadors for academic health research. They can help relate the importance of scientific research to their communities in different ways and in a variety of settings. The board is comprised of both academic health researchers and community leaders. Their networks encompass faith-based organizations, grassroots and large-scale nonprofits/NGOs, higher education and research institutions, as well as health care settings. Advisory board members contribute a wide range of professional and lived expertise.
UI Health With the Community
Stories about how UI Health supports community access to excellent health care and education.