History & Major Milestones
It all started with an exceptional idea.
In 1967, a group of community activists, armed with little more than determination, set out to acquire quality healthcare services for their neighborhood. As a result of their efforts and the federal government’s “War on Poverty,” Mile Square Health Center (MSHC) was established on Chicago’s near West Side. The multi-service facility grew so quickly that by 1985, it was the largest federally funded community health center between the East and West coasts. However, in the late 1980s, beset by a lack of funding, MSHC closed its doors.
In 1990, a unique partnership with the City of Chicago Department of Public Health and the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) Medical Center (today referred to as UI Health) was established to reopen the Mile Square Health Center. The facility was owned by the City of Chicago Department of Public Health, and staffed and managed by UIC. In February 1991, the center reopened to the community, seeing its first patient.
In 1999, Mile Square became an official component of the University of Illinois, becoming one of the few public sector Federally Qualified Health Centers in the nation. In 2020, Mile Square expanded beyond the Chicagoland area by opening a site in the city of Rockford.
