What: A panel of experts experienced in providing health care to underserved Chicagoans and designing programs that fit community needs will discuss the challenges involved in primary care in Chicago’s most at-risk communities.
The virtual summit launches an unprecedented partnership between Rush University Graduate College and IIT Institute of Design to collaborate in the development of an innovative, community-centered approach to equitable health care delivery.
Illinois State Sen. Mattie Hunter will open the virtual summit, "Equitable Primary Care in the Community."
When: Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2021
8–9:30 a.m. CT
Where: Register here for the virtual summit .
Who: Opening remarks
Illinois state Sen. Mattie Hunter (Third District)
The panelists
- Kim Jay, senior community health worker consultant and trainer, Sinai Urban Health Institute
- Angela Moss, assistant dean of faculty practice, College of Nursing at Rush University, and director of Rush’s nurse-managed community clinics
- Chris Rudd, clinical professor of community-driven design, IIT Institute of Design, and founder of ChiByDesign
- Leana Lopez, director of behavioral health and community programs, Medical Home Network
Panel moderators
- Kim Erwin, co-director, Rush-ID collaboration
- Santosh Basapur, co-director, Rush-ID collaboration
Why: The inequity embedded in how health care is delivered is an especially urgent and complex problem on Chicago’s West and South sides, where Rush University Medical Center (RUMC) and IIT Institute of Design (ID) are located.
This Rush-IIT collaboration – part of a suite of ID Action Lab initiatives – will demonstrate the power of cutting-edge design approaches while leveraging Rush’s excellence in medicine and leadership in innovative and inclusive health care.
Priorities, based on interviews with community members, include:
- Creating accessible and convenient primary care that moves people out of the emergency room
- Employing local residents as part of a neighborhood pipeline of health care workers
- Standardizing metrics that identify health issues on a neighborhood level
The graduate schools at ID and Rush University will offer courses, seminars, and events in the coming months for students, clinicians, and executives.
“We’ve seen thousands of deaths due to COVID-19, and we’ve seen how racism has intensified the effects of the pandemic. It’s time to take action against the factors that led us here,” Sen. Hunter says. “The Rush-ID collaboration will make real progress toward equitable, people-centered care, and I support these vital efforts to make our local, regional, and national health care systems more equitable.”
Read the announcement of the IIT-Rush collaboration.
ABOUT IIT INSTITUTE OF DESIGN (ID) IIT Institute of Design, an academic unit at the Illinois Institute of Technology located in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood, is an international community of learners and practitioners who drive impactful change by eliciting a power unique to humans: creativity. Leveraging ID’s expertise in systems design and human-centered design, its faculty-led Action Lab addresses today’s most challenging systemic problems: equity in healthcare, justice in food access, and sustainability in energy delivery. By involving cross-sector leaders with diverse areas of expertise, the Action Lab can conceptualize, test, and produce economically viable programs, products, and services that people want—and effectively accelerate social change.
ABOUT RUSH UNIVERSITY Rush University is the academic enterprise of Rush University Medical Center. Rush University is comprised of four colleges: Rush Medical College, College of Nursing, College of Health Sciences and the Graduate College. Together they offer more than 40 degree and certificate programs. The Graduate College is focused on innovative approaches to education and biomedical research that produce a highly skilled workforce. Students not only learn leading-edge scientific techniques but also critical thinking and analytical problem-solving skills that will serve them no matter their next steps after earning their master’s or doctorate degrees.
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