EDGEWATER — Three Harvard graduates plan to open a health clinic for Medicare recipients this week inside a renovated storefront at 1541 W. Devon Ave.
The new clinic, called Oak Street Health, would be the first of two to open in the city.
The second location should open later this month in Portage Park, said Griffin Myers, 32, a doctor and chief medical officer of Oak Street Health.
Each clinic can serve 2,500 patients, he said, and the care is free, with co-pays for all Medicare participants.
The Devon Avenue clinic features a community room, seven exam rooms and two vans that are available to patients for rides to and from the clinic.
Myers and his partners, Mike Pykosz and Geoff Price, decided to start the business because they saw a need for elderly Medicare patients to have an all-inclusive clinic to manage their health.
Myers said most Medicare participants have multiple doctors and usually turn to costly hospital emergency rooms for care.
"We're doing something that is different," said Pykosz.
Ald. Harry Osterman (48th) plans to attend the grand opening of the Edgewater clinic at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to a press release from Oak Street.
Just down the street, at 1300 W. Devon Ave., Heartland Health Centers plans to demolish a long-vacant building and erect a one-story health center within a year.