HIHC receives generous contribution from Polks Bros. Foundation
December 5, 2011
HIHC received $180,000 from the Polk Bros. Foundation to support comprehensive primary care, behavioral health care, and oral health care services in its school health centers during 2012. Students at Senn High School, Roosevelt High School, and Uplift Community High school benefit from coordinated on-site services that are tailored to meet the unique needs of adolescents. With support from Polk Bros. Foundation, master’s level therapists work within Roosevelt High School, Senn High School, and Uplift Community High School to provide comprehensive mental health and substance abuse services to students. Through its partnership with Alternatives, Inc, the school health centers provide a continuum of services to address the behavioral health needs of students, develop and provide psycho-educational group sessions, cultivate and facilitate a Student Health Club at Senn and Roosevelt, and advocate for enhanced behavioral health services in schools through collaborative work with the Illinois Coalition for School Health Centers.

In addition, HIHC dental staff members provide comprehensive restorative and preventive oral health care to students two days per week at Senn and Roosevelt and to community members one day per week at Senn. Services include trauma prevention; preventive fluoride varnishes; cancer screenings; emergency services; and treatments targeting dental caries, periodontal disease, and edentulism (tooth loss). In addition, we provide extensive patient education tailored to the age of the patient and possible risk factors, particularly regarding mouth/tongue piercings, periodontal care, decay treatment and prevention, and nutritional information. Furthermore, Polk Bros. Foundation support also contributes to the provision of primary care services at Uplift by a pediatrician who specializes in adolescent medicine along with a mid-level provider. Services include acute care for sickness and injury, immunizations, school and sports physicals, chronic disease management, nutrition counseling, women’s health services, STI testing and treatment, and sexual health counseling.

Our Community Relations Coordinator also devotes half her time to Uplift where she assists with AllKids applications, coordinates receipt of dental services, and supervises the outreach and health education activities of AmeriCorps members and Schweitzer Fellows. This ongoing investment in our students' health from the Polk Bros. Foundation makes it possible to provide care when and where its needed to some of the most diverse student bodies in Chicago. We are most grateful for the opportunity to provide this care.

• HIHC receives generous funding from Chicago Dental Society Foundation
  November 15, 2011
  The Chicago Dental Society Foundation has awarded $3,465 to Heartland International Health Center. This grant will be used to purchase much needed dental equipment at our Heartland Health Center - Senn and Heartland Health Center - Hibbard locations. These two sites on Chicago's north side provide comprehensive preventative and restorative care to both students and non-students in the community. This patient base is among the most diverse in the country and will benefit from improved access to effective and efficient dental care.

  • HIHC receives generous contribution from the VNA Foundation
    October 17, 2011
    Heartland International Health Center is grateful to receive a $40,000 contribution from the VNA Foundation to support our prenatal case management program. This program was launched in 2009 with the generous support of the VNA Foundation and has become one of HIHC’s most critical initiatives for serving low-income mothers and their babies. For many women, and especially those burdened by poverty, pregnancy and motherhood present a myriad of challenges and unknowns. HIHC’s Prenatal Case Management Program seeks to help patients to navigate these uncertainties by coordinating their care, giving them one-on-one time to talk with an HIHC nurse, and connecting them to the resources that they need. To this end an HIHC nurse meets with each expectant mother and works with HIHC’s physicians and midwives to assess each patient’s risk level and additional social service needs. The nurse also talks patients through available delivery and labor support options and prenatal education opportunities. These patients are given the opportunity to ask the nurse any and all questions they want, without a time constraint and within a safe and welcoming environment. As part of HIHC’s medical home model of care, the nurse coordinates the services patients receive from the organization, including prenatal care and education, postpartum and postnatal care, prenatal oral health care, and mental health care.

    • Heartland Pediatric Center - Now Home to Awesome Artwork
      October 11, 2011

      Prescott Elementary School artist Danny Campos and his mother in front of his piece depicting a Mexican sunset. Photo taken by Michelle Hidalgo

      Heartland Pediatric Center – Lakeview hosted a Student Art Reception on October 11 to showcase the fine work of some of the talented students from several nearby schools. Twenty-eight young artists from Inter-American Magnet, Prescott and Jahn Elementary and Camp Red Kite at Agassiz Elementary donated pieces for display on the walls of HPC-Lakeview. Chicago Children’s Theatre runs Camp Red Kite during the summer for autistic children. These artists and their families were invited to view their work and be honored for their contribution. Before October 11, the walls were bare and looked forlorn to the many families who bring their children to the health center for comprehensive pediatric care. Now the walls are full of life and reflect the ideas and feelings of many children in nearby communities. Gwenn Rausch, Executive Director of Heartland International Health Center which provides health care at nine north side sites in addition to HPC-Lakeview, welcomed the guests. She thanked the children for donating their beautiful work and asked them if they thought this would make a visit to the doctor more fun. The response was “Yes, it would!” Click here to read more.

    • HIHC receives generous funding from Northwestern Memorial Hospital
      September 22, 2011
      Northwestern Memorial Hospital has generously granted $7,500 to Heartland International Health Center for its sports medicine program at Heartland Health Center - Uplift Community High School. The project period began on September 1, 2011 and runs through August 31, 2012. The aim of the project is to decrease sports related injuries among students and help students develop and follow through with rehabilitation plans. In addition, the grant fosters community engagement by fostering partnerships in promoting safe physical activity and educating Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine students in a community setting.

      • HIHC receives generous funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration
        July 14, 2011
        This week, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) awarded $95 million to 278 programs across the country. Made possible by the Affordable Care Act, this is the first-ever source of federal funding to uniquely support school-based health centers. Heartland International Health Center is proud to announce that it was awarded a total of $299,537 for renovation and equipment at Heartland's Health Centers at Senn High School, Roosevelt High School, and Hibbard Elementary School. The capital project at HHC-Senn will include renovation of its exam rooms, reception, lab, and charting areas, as well as the purchase of related equipment and furniture. Remaining funds will be used to renovate an exam room at HHC-Hibbard and to replace old and worn equipment for HHC-Roosevelt. This initiative will not only increase the number of patients that HHC-Senn and HHC-Hibbard can serve by 25% and 40% respectively, but will also improve efficiency around patient flow.
        
        For more information about the HRSA, please visit their website.

        • Lloyd A. Fry Foundation major supporter of HIHC's Oral Health Program
          June 24, 2011
          The Lloyd A. Fry Foundationis a major supporter of Heartland International Health Center's Oral Health Program. Its funds have enabled HIHC to operate dental suites within each of its school-based health centers and also to conduct oral health screenings and outreach at community sites. Specifically, the Foundation's contribution of $200,000 over the 2012 and 2013 academic years will support staff salaries and enable HIHC to hire a new half-time dentist and a half-time dental hygienist. Hiring for this new dentist is underway and will be completed by mid-July. The dental hygienist, Sara Hallowell, has already been retained. These provider increases will allow HIHC to take full advantage of the dental suite in its new health center located at Hibbard Elementary. Because of the Fry Foundation's investment, HIHC will also be able to implement a more cost-efficient staffing model that balances tasks between a dentist and a dental hygienist, so that the dentist can focus on administering higher-level services.This will vastly improve the sustainability of HIHC's Oral Health Program and that program's ability to continue offering dental care to all primary care patients, regardless of insurance status or ability to pay. 

          For questions related to HIHC, please contact Kimberly Tester, Director of Business Development, at ktester@heartlandalliance.org.

           
        • No time like summer to take on childhood obesity
          June 2, 2011
          Medill Reports
          Chicago kids are only weeks away from ending the school year, but with relaxed schedules and long summer days looming ahead, the importance of remaining active and eating healthy is paramount, experts said. Physicians, dieticians and community organizations believe parents should assert their position as role models by helping their kids eat healthy and stay active, especially in Chicago, where 22 percent of children are obese, over twice the national rate, according to the Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children’s most recent report.

         

        • Heartland International Health Center receives $10,000 from Cubs Care
          April 26, 2011

        Tom Ricketts (Cubs Chairman), Kimberly Tester (HIHC Director of Business Development), and Randy Wells (Cubs pitcher.) Heartland International Health Center is grateful to have received $10,000 from Cubs Care, a fund of the McCormick Foundation. These funds will support services at the school health center at Uplift Community High School. The school health center fills a significant need for high quality health care for hundreds of adolescents and teens living in Chicago's diverse Uptown community who otherwise have difficulty accessing such services. Many of the students' families experience insurmountable barriers that prevent them from accessing care on a consistent basis. Support from Cubs Care helps us sustain ongoing operations. These funds also contributed to our ability to upgrade the medical records system at the site from paper to a combined electronic health record and practice management system. The McCormick Foundation, through its fund Cubs Care, has granted more than $15 million to Chicago non-profit organizations since 1991. Grants help support agencies which aid children with special needs, support youth sports programs, help victims of domestic violence and assist social service agencies in the immediate neighborhood of Wrigley Field, which includes Lakeview, Uptown and Lincoln Park.  For more information, visit The McCormick Foundation's website.  For questions related to HIHC, please contact Kimberly Tester, Director of Business Development, at ktester@heartlandalliance.org.

        • 15 Uplift Students Rally for School Health Center‏ In Springfield
          April 16, 2011
          Uptown Update
          On Tuesday, a sea of red advanced upon the Capitol Rotunda as 200 people, mostly high school students in red t-shirts, chanted “We are the Advocates for SHCs!” School Health Centers (SHC) are like a doctor’s office within a school, and are predominantly located in underserved areas. On School Health Center Advocacy Day, students from across the state traveled to Springfield to advocate for school health center funding.
        • Chicago adding in-school health centers
          December 22, 2010
          Chicago Tribune
          At first glance, this health care center on the city's Northwest Side looks like any other facility offering medical care to young patients: In the waiting area, children will find a basket of books on a small table, toys on the floor and a chalkboard. But the facility is inside Hibbard Elementary School in Albany Park and is the latest health center to debut inside a Chicago Public Schools facility. The center, which opened in October and is operated by the nonprofit Heartland International Health Center, serves students at Hibbard and two nearby CPS schools, Albany Park Multicultural Academy and Thomas Edison Regional Gifted Center. It offers comprehensive health services and dental care to students at no cost to families. Next semester it will begin offering mental health services.
        • United Way and Heartland International Health Center Team Up
          July 27, 2010
          A recent study on the nation’s oral health released by the U.S. Surgeon general reported that more than 51 million school hours are lost each year to dental-related illness. United Way recently helped fund a new health facility that will provide a wide range of services from primary care and mental health to dentistry and nutritional help. This center was opened by Heartland International Health Center (HIHC) in Chicago’s Hibbard School in Albany Park and will help more than 1,700 local underserved children.
          
          

          For questions related to the school health center program or other HIHC activities, please contact Kimberly Tester, Director of Business Development, at ktester@heartlandalliance.org.

        • Heartland International Health Center To Open Health Facility at Chicago’s Hibbard School in Albany Park
          June 29, 2010

        HIHC Board of Directors Chair, Steve Rosemurgy; 39th Ward Alderman, Margaret Laurino; Hibbard Elementary School Principal, Scott Ahlman.   Photo taken by Jerry Daliege

        A groundbreaking ceremony for the Heartland Health Center at Hibbard Elementary School in the Albany Park neighborhood of Chicago took place on June 21. The facility, located within the school at 3244 West Ainslie Street, will provide a wide range of services — including primary care, mental health and dentistry — for up to 1700 students. Youth from the nearby Albany Park Multicultural Academy and Edison Regional Gifted Center will also access services at the center.  The center will welcome its first patients in September 2010, near the beginning of the 2010-2011 school year for Chicago Public Schools.  For questions related to the Heartland Health Center at Hibbard Elementary , please contact Kimberly Tester, Director of Business Development, at ktester@heartlandalliance.org.

        • Heartland International Health Center received its first award from the United Way of Metropolitan Chicago
          May, 25, 2010
          HIHC was awarded $100,000 through the United Way of Metropolitan Chicago's (UWMC) Health and Wellness Initiative. Contingent upon United Way fundraising totals, UWMC intends to provide funding at this annual level over a period of three years for a total of $300,000. UWMC is committed to helping people in the Chicago Metropolitan region live longer, healthier lives. With UWMC funds, HIHC will work to connect underserved communities and populations with health services. Funds will be used in our school health center program, particularly to support the operations of our third school health center opening at Hibbard Elementary School in Fall 2010. This was HIHC's first application to and award from the United Way, and we are excited and grateful for this support!
          
          

           For questions related to the school health center program or other HIHC activities, please contact Kimberly Tester, Director of Business Development, at ktester@heartlandalliance.org.

        • Heartland International Health Center awarded $20,000 from the Ravenswood Health Care Foundation
          March 19, 2010
          HIHC was awarded $20,000 from the Ravenswood Health Care Foundation. The mission of the Foundation is to award grants that foster, promote, support, develop, and encourage community health and wellness in the greater Ravenswood area of Chicago. These funds will assist Heartland International Health Center in providing dental services and education at two of our school health centers: Heartland Health Center - Senn and Heartland Health Center - Roosevelt. Our program goals are to provide clinically effective preventive and restorative dental services that are integrated with primary care and to enhance the financial stability of the school oral health program. Our anticipated outcomes are decreased Periodontal Screening and Recording scores, decreases in decayed tooth surfaces, and greater numbers of students enrolled in the AllKids insurance program.
          
          

          For questions related to the preventive care case management program or other HIHC activities, please contact Kimberly Tester, Director of Business Development, at ktester@heartlandalliance.org.

        • Heartland International Health Center awarded $20,000 from The Field Foundation of Illinois
          February 1, 2010
          HIHC was awarded $20,000 from The Field Foundation of Illinois for continued support of the preventive care case management program. This program is a targeted outreach initiative that promotes access to and information about recommended cancer screenings (breast, cervical, and colorectal) and age-appropriate immunizations (childhood, flu, and pneumonia). The Field Foundation seeks to provide support for community, civic and cultural organizations in the Chicago area, enabling both new and established programs to test innovations, to expand proven strengths or to address specific, time-limited operational needs.
          
          

          For questions related to the preventive care case management program or other HIHC activities, please contact Kimberly Tester, Director of Business Development, at ktester@heartlandalliance.org.

        • Heartland International Health Center awarded $2,500 from the Chicago Dental Society Foundation
          January 27, 2010
          Heartland International Health Center was awarded $2,500 from the Chicago Dental Society Foundation for the purchase of needed dental equipment. HIHC is grateful for the support of the Foundation! The Chicago Dental Society Foundation is the philanthropic and charitable component of the Chicago Dental Society. The mission of the Foundation is to improve oral health of the public by providing funds for access to care programs and dental education and by carrying on such other activities as may be determined by the Foundation's Board of Trustees.
          
          

          For questions related related to the oral health program or other HIHC activities, please contact Kimberly Tester, Director of Business Development, at ktester@heartlandalliance.org.

        • The Soul of Dental Hygiene
          January 19, 2010
          North Suburban Dental Hygienists' Society
          Sara Hallowell, Heartland Alliance volunteer and Registered Dental Hygienist writes about her journey from private into public dental health care and her experiences along the way. 
        
        
        • Heartland International Health Center awarded $50,000 from the VNA Foundation
          January 12, 2010
          

          Community Health Nurse Megan Anderson with patient Tiana Coleman at Heartland Health Center – Lincoln Square.

          Heartland International Health Center was awarded $50,000 from the VNA Foundation. These funds will provide continued support for our comprehensive prenatal case management program, which focuses on the coordination of needed health care, education, and social services for underserved women in the community both during and after pregnancy. We are grateful for the continued support of the Foundation! From 1890 to 1995, the Visiting Nurse Association of Chicago employed its own nurses and other health professionals to provide health care to the underprivileged. Now the VNA Foundation operates exclusively as a grantmaking foundation, giving financial support to nonprofit organizations offering home- and community-based care to the underserved. Their mission is to support home- and community-based healthcare for the medically underserved in the Chicago metropolitan area. For questions related to the prenatal case management program or other HIHC activities, please contact Kimberly Tester, Director of Business Development, at ktester@heartlandalliance.org.

        • The Lloyd A. Fry Foundation Annual Report: Focus on HIHC's School-Based Oral Health Services
          January 5, 2010
          The Lloyd A. Fry Foundation
          The Illinois State Dental Society estimates that low-income residents in 60 percent of Illinois counties lack access to dental care, including parts of Cook County. Along with the support of The Lloyd A. Fry Foundation funding, Heartland International Health Center is addressing this problem. It is bringing oral health education and dental care to its school-based health centers at Senn and Roosevelt High Schools, which serve broadly diverse neighborhoods on Chicago's North Side.
        
        
        • • School-Based Health Center in Albany Park December 7, 2010
            
            Watch our video highlighting new, comprehensive medical services at Hibbard Elementary
          • Reaching Out to Help Seniors January 5, 2010
            
            Heartland Alliance is building an array of programs to provide for the elderly.
          • Helping Homeless Families December 7, 2009
            
            This year, the holidays mean uncertainty and stress for homeless families, pushed into crisis by circumstances beyond their control.
        • • Chicago Adding In-school Health Centers December 22, 2010 Chicago Tribune

            Centers provide free care to underserved areas.

          • New Clinic Integrates Primary Health Care October 8, 2010 The Art of Healing Life
          • Heartland Health Center Celebrates Mothers and Children May 25, 2009 The Urban Coaster

            Heartland International Health Center (HIHC) hosted a “Celebrate Mothers & Children” brunch on Saturday, May 16 at its Rogers Park facility.

          • Students Serve the Community through Heartland Alliance August 8, 2008 Feinberg School of Medicine

            The skills and privileges physicians acquire as they learn and practice medicine put them in a unique position in society. They are allowed to hear the most intimate details of the lives of people they may have just met. Physicians are welcomed around the world when they volunteer their services to help humanity in times of natural disasters and tragedies brought by war, poverty, and disease. Feinberg School students have many opportunities to exercise such altruism, and the partnership between Heartland Alliance and the Department of Family Medicine add a great deal more.