EAST GARFIELD PARK — When touring the neighborhood to advertise the newly opened Oak Street Health clinic, outreach workers often hear the same question from seniors: "What's the catch?"
The primary care clinic, which opened Aug. 25 at 3433 W. Madison St., caters specifically to patients insured through Medicare and Medicaid. For the most part, that means people 65 or older.
"It's hard to get them to believe there's this entire facility that's just for them, and it doesn't cost anything beyond the insurance they already qualify for," said Alicia Thomas, the clinic's Community Outreach Director. "But by the end of their first full visit, they're usually like, 'Wow, you weren't lying.'"
From their first appointment, each patient encounters the same five staff members: a doctor, a nurse, a medical assistant, a social worker and a "scribe" who takes notes on every conversation.
"Everyone here is just so polite, and knowledgeable, and no one ever rushes anything," said 70-year-old Georgia Hollingsworth, on her second visit to the clinic. "The first time I came here, it was to see the doctor, but this time I came by just to mingle and see people."
Hollingsworth can "mingle" without an appointment because of another uncommon feature the clinic boasts: a "community center" complete with computers, couches and a flat-screen TV. Regular events there range from bingo and Spanish classes to karaoke and Michael Jackson impersonation shows.
Thomas said the community center is meant to promote mental and emotional health, and to build bonds among seniors, a group that can often be "isolated." After only two visits, Hollingsworth said she felt the center was delivering on its promise.
She's not the only one with glowing reviews of the clinic. On a recent Tuesday, it was hard to find a senior at the clinic who had any complaints about their experience.
"There aren't any babies running around, nobody screaming or hollering — it's just us old people, it's like our own little space no one else can invade," Hollingsworth said, laughing. "Coming here is just like a holiday. It's like Christmas every day."
The Garfield Park clinic is the newest of 15 Oak Street Health branches in the Chicago area, eight of which opened this year. The city's first Oak Street Health clinic opened in September 2013, and since then, staffers said, it's been a booming success.
Clinic administrator Laura Morales pointed to emergency prevention as a reason the private network of clinics has been able to expand so quickly.
"In the long run we're saving the Medicare system a lot of money, because the more we focus on preventative care, the more patients we keep out of the ER," Morales said, noting that the average Emergency Room visit costs about $10,000.
"With that amount [of money], we could pay for about 300 primary care appointments," Morales added.
As if to demonstrate her point, Morales stepped away for 15 minutes to oversee an ambulance call. A patient who had come in for a routine visit was demonstrating "possible early signs of a stroke," and the doctor on duty sent him to a nearby hospital as a precaution.
"There's a wider trend you're seeing these days with more of a focus on coordination of care, as a way of reducing hospital visits," said Vanessa Hall, Oak Street Health's director of media and government relations. "More care providers are buying into that, and communities like this are really benefiting."
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