Brady PieperIllinois is seeking to lead the way when it comes to providing equitable, accessible and affordable healthcare to its residents.
The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) and the Illinois Capital Development Board (CDB) are jointly announcing $200 million in grants to fund the expansion, renovation and improvement of healthcare facilities around the state. The funding will support 13 organizations working to improve the quality of and access to healthcare services in Illinois, especially in historically disadvantaged communities.
“These grants represent a significant investment in the future of healthcare across Illinois, particularly in underserved communities,” CDB Executive Director TJ Edwards said. “CDB is proud to partner with HFS to ensure these projects not only improve healthcare access, but also build stronger, more resilient healthcare infrastructure that will serve generations of Illinoisans.”
The funds will come from the Illinois’ groundbreaking Healthcare Transformation Capital Investment Grant Program, a statewide initiative designed to improve healthcare outcomes, reduce disparities and enhance care delivery.
Allocating the program’s entire funding for fiscal year 2025, a significant portion of the grants will go to some of the state’s largest and most critical healthcare projects, focusing on both expanding existing services and building new facilities. Nearly half of the projects will support safety net hospitals, which serve critically disadvantaged communities across the state.
Among the largest grant recipients, the Heritage Behavioral Health Center in Decatur will receive $43.8 million in funding to develop a certified community behavioral health clinic. To address the growing need for mental health services in central Illinois, the center will provide comprehensive, integrated behavioral and primary healthcare to residents across Macon, DeWitt and Piatt counties.
The Board of Trustees for the University of Illinois will secure a $33 million grant to purchase and renovate buildings in the South Side of Chicago. Developed in support of the Target Health HTC, the project will construct a comprehensive care center and community wellness programming space, including facilities to house primary and specialty care, medical imaging and screening services, navigation, training and coaching services.
$22.5 million will be delivered to Insight Chicago to renovate the Corpus Christi Building in Bronzeville. In partnership with the South Side Health Equity Collaborative, the renovation will revert the space into a youthful community empowerment center, featuring urgent and primary care facilities alongside educational, athletic and wellness services. This grant will advance the project, seeking to foster long-term health improvements through community engagement and support for local youth and families.
Some of the other projects set to secure millions in federal capital investment grants are:
- Marcfirst (Lifelong Access), partnering with Medicaid innovation Collaborative HTC – $21.7 million to convert the Pantagraph newspaper building into a collaborative hub for support service agencies in Normal. This hub would include space for behavioral health, psychiatry, a youth behavioral urgent care center, pediatric primary care, dental wellness, alternative youth education, community day services, food security initiatives and supported employment programming.
- Touchette Regional Hospital, partnering with East St. Louis Health Transformation Partnership HTC – $15 million to construct a new adolescent mental health section at the Touchette Regional Hospital in Cahokia Heights. The new project would integrate into the already under development Health Care Campus, an initiative previously funded by Healthcare Transformation grants.
- Clay County Hospital – $12.1 million for the construction of a new department building on the Clay County Medical Complex in Flora. The renovation project will also expand the hospital, enhancing education and prevention services.
- Southern Illinois Hospital Services, partnering with Integrated HUB HTC – $9.9 million to address mental health treatment in a broad sixteen-county southern region. The initiative would add new acute mental illness beds and update current psychiatric units to improve the critical need for mental health care and equipment.
Successful applicants will be required to complete all project work and demonstrate operational coherency five years following the date of this announcement. These capital investment program grants will complement an additional statewide effort to upgrade healthcare facilities, care and access – the Healthcare Transformation Collaboratives (HTC) program. Established in 2021, the initiative leverages shared resources through collaborative partnerships to tailor community-driven solutions and enhance equity in the healthcare sector, especially in disadvantaged communities.
Image by Sasin Tipchai from Pixabay
