NorthShore Health Centers has officially begun phase one of opening new clinics, making quality, affordable healthcare more accessible for everyone in the community. The clinics will offer family practice, pediatrics, and OB/GYN. A full array of services including dental, vision, chiropractic, mental health, and pharmacy is coming soon.
The Gary clinic is the first in a wave of new locations for NorthShore, with clinics in Crown Point, East Chicago, and Michigan City set to open in the coming months. NorthShore is driven by its mission to provide quality care to everyone, regardless of ability to pay, and these new branches represent a big leap in fulfilling that mission.
“To be able to bring our plethora of services to these communities is absolutely amazing,” said Gervay Dickerson, director of community engagement at NorthShore. “The services are quality and the care is excellent. We know that when we’re bringing patients in that they’re going to receive fantastic, affordable treatment. We’re genuinely here for the community.”
This initial wave is just the first phase of NorthShore’s expansion efforts, with the goal of starting out with family practice services to help introduce the community to NorthShore’s high standards of care and affordability.
“We want to remove any barriers that communities might have with accessing healthcare,” said Tricia Hall, senior director of brand strategy. “Moving into Gary, Crown Point, East Chicago, and Michigan City is a big part of that. We recognized that a lot of our patient growth was coming from those communities; data showed that there was a need here. We’re starting with primary care and building out from there.”
One of the first patients to visit a phase one location was new to NorthShore and was seen by Family Nurse Practitioner, Kasey Rothchild.
“It’s very exciting; I like that we’re expanding into areas that really need this kind of care,” Rothchild said. “It’s important to me to serve the underserved populations. Whenever we see a new patient, they’re surprised by everything NorthShore has to offer, like having a 340B pharmacy on site that has better prices than other pharmacies.”
Rothchild said that new and returning patients can expect the same level of service at all of the new locations. She added that NorthShore’s fast appointment availability, usually on the same day, is one of the most discussed topics among patients.
“We’re super patient-centered; everything we do is about providing them with the best experience we can,” said Alexis Riley, senior director of clinical operations. “That starts with medical care but goes into extended services such as care coordination and patient navigation. We go beyond what standard health centers do and provide a holistic, whole body approach. We try to encompass everything – it’s super comprehensive.”
With the Gary location now open, NorthShore is set to open its next clinic, the new Crown Point location, by the end of April. Michigan City and East Chicago are not far behind, looking to welcome patients in June.
“I can’t tell you how excited I am about this process,” Riley said. “We’re bringing so many different services, so many different employment opportunities. It’s going to be great. We’re going to offer the best possible care we can to all of our patients in these communities.”
To learn more about NorthShore Health Centers or to schedule an appointment, visit northshorehealth.org.
