Access, Justice, and Community-Centered Care
At Mile Square Health Center, we believe everyone deserves access to high-quality healthcare. We also believe in supporting individuals who are committed to caring for others and improving health outcomes in their own communities.
These values drive everything we do. We focus on serving patients in medically underserved areas across Chicago, many of whom face barriers to preventive care, dental health, behavioral health, and addiction treatment. We also invest in training and hiring healthcare professionals from the neighborhoods we serve—strengthening the care we provide and building long-term community resilience.
We hold firm to the idea that everyone—regardless of income, location, or background—should be able to receive excellent healthcare and live a healthier, fuller life.
Our Commitment to Community Health
Mile Square’s mission is rooted in expanding healthcare access and addressing health disparities. Our approach includes:
1. Improving the health of vulnerable populations in the Chicago area.
The Mile Square service area comprises over 2 million residents in Chicago and Rockford. Our communities are overwhelmingly made up of racial and ethnic minorities and populations that experience high socioeconomic hardship. They also face unique health challenges centered around social determinants of health, such as low income, unemployment, crowded housing, and limited or no health insurance.
- Black/African American: 36%
- Hispanic: 34%
- White non-Hispanic: 24%
- Asian non-Hispanic: 4%
- Another non-Hispanic race: 2%
Every three years, we conduct a comprehensive needs assessment [PDF download] to identify gaps in care and inform our program development. This data guides our grant applications, strategic planning, and healthcare initiatives.
Programs for diabetes, hypertension, addiction, and cancer screenings have all been developed as a direct response to identified community needs. We’ve also secured federal funding from HRSA to address maternal health outcomes among our patient population.
2. Hiring from the communities we serve.
We prioritize hiring local staff who understand the communities we work in. This supports meaningful patient-provider relationships, enhances care quality, and offers employment pathways to individuals in our service areas.
- Patients feel more connected and understood when staff are from their neighborhoods
- Communication improves when providers understand community norms and lived experience
- Local hiring can inspire future healthcare professionals from underrepresented communities
Our dental assistant certification program, for example, offers affordable (and sometimes free) training for community members, with opportunities for job placement after graduation.
3. Engaging our communities in all that we do.
We believe that patients and community members should have a voice in the healthcare they receive. At Mile Square, that means actively involving the community in decisions that shape our services and programs—both inside our clinics and throughout the neighborhoods we serve.
Our research council and board of directors regularly engage with community members and partners to ensure our work reflects real community needs. These conversations influence decisions that directly affect patients, their families, and their broader support networks.
By incorporating input from our community board, we ensure that the research and services we pursue are relevant, respectful, and impactful. This helps us stay connected to the people we serve—and ensures that our efforts lead to meaningful health improvements.
At Mile Square, we’re building a healthcare system grounded in access, trust, and partnership. By focusing on the health of our patients, the training of our workforce, and the strength of our communities, we continue to expand access to care and improve lives—one person at a time.
