The Family Health Partnership Clinic is one of 5 clinics statewide chosen to participate in an innovative program with the University of Chicago Hospital. ECHO-Chicago (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) is a model to train community health providers to deliver state of the art care to underserved communities. Through advanced communication technology, providers at the Family Health Partnership Clinic will have access to leading specialists in chronic disease conditions. This particular model will focus on hypertension, with Dr. George Bakris from University of Chicago leading the didactics and the case presentations.
“We are excited to be able to have this level of care available in the Clinic,” said Dr. Jim Mowery, Medical Director. “This is a model that trains our own providers from one of the leaders in the hypertension field. And because our providers will be trained as well as being able to present specific cases, it leverages scarce resources to help a larger group of people – a very cost effective way to deliver care.”
This program is being supported by Americares, the GE Foundation and the Illinois Association of Free and Charitable Clinics. “This is a critical piece in our commitment to high quality health care,” said Pat Montemurro, Clinical Manager. “The results of the program are being studied by researchers to evaluate the impact of such a model. If successful, this could mean a breakthrough in access to healthcare.”
