Illinois Jobs Now! Project Supported 200 Jobs; Will Strengthen Healthcare for Vulnerable, Low-Income and Medicaid Patients at Mount Sinai
CHICAGO - November 13, 2012. Governor Pat Quinn today joined with community and healthcare leaders to announce the newly renovated Mount Sinai Hospital Health Clinic. This $7 million Illinois Jobs Now! capital construction project created or supported almost 200 jobs and will allow Mount Sinai Hospital to relocate its specialty clinics into one space.
"As a result of this project, more people will get the medical care they need and we will strengthen the local community," Governor Quinn said. "Building this new clinic at Mount Sinai creates jobs, paves the way for more economic growth and improves healthcare services that will help tens of thousands of people every year."
The $7 million Illinois Jobs Now! project was used to move all of Mount Sinai Hospital's specialty clinics out of a 60-year facility that was once used as a dormitory and into a newly-renovated space. These clinics include cardiology, gastroenterology, infectious disease, nephrology, general surgery, vascular surgery and several pediatric subspecialties. Construction on the first phase of this project will be completed in the next four to six months.
These clinics served more than 65,000 patient visits last year. The new space was designed to accommodate more patients that will be covered by the Medicaid expansion as part of the federal Affordable Care Act. Medicaid covers 60% of Sinai Health System's patients and 15% are uninsured. The efficiencies created by bringing these clinics under one roof will mean increased care for vulnerable populations that have limited options in receiving specialty medical treatment.
The new clinics will be located on the third floor of the Sinai Community Institute Building, which serves as a central location where those in need can go for help. The first floor of the building houses many of the programs of Sinai Community Institute which offers a wide range of programs to serve the community. Programs include one of the largest Women, Infant and Children (WIC) programs in Illinois, parenting education, elder abuse services, workforce development, case management, youth programming, case management for the Juvenile Intervention Support Center, after school education programs and a community computer lab.
Governor Quinn's $31 billion Illinois Jobs Now! capital construction program is the largest in Illinois history, supporting an estimated 439,000 construction jobs over six years. The program, which aims to modernize Illinois' infrastructure, began in 2009.
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