Access programs provide patient care health service to disadvantaged populations.
20/20’s mission is to provide free vision services to underserved populations. Student volunteers will apply their clinical and non-clinical skills to screen adults and children for eye diseases, such as glaucoma, cataracts, amblyopia, and strabismus.
The CDPH vaccination and testing team allows volunteers to sign up for the dates and sites they are interested in volunteering with. Sites provide COVID testing and/or vaccinations and volunteers are active participants in both activities while working closely with the CDPH nursing and social work team. Vaccines and testing are offered for additional public health concerns as well, such as monkey pox.
The Community Health Clinic is a non-profit volunteer organization providing free preventive and primary health care services to members of the community who cannot afford or are ineligible for medical insurance. The clinic offers a large range of services including routine physicals, immunization programs, and a full laboratory and pharmacy. Additionally, CHC is host to several patient education classes and over 20 different specialty clinics, allowing CHC to provide more comprehensive and well-rounded care.
CURE stands for Center for the Underserved at Rush ENT. CURE’s goal is to provide continuous and comprehensive otolaryngology healthcare to the residents of Chicago’s homeless shelters through in-person and telemedicine visits. The framework of these visits is as follows: students will use a patient-privacy protected iPad who will facilitate the visit between residents of the shelter and a Rush otolaryngologist. Should a patient require a follow up visit or a more in-depth treatment, round-trip transportation will be arranged by the shelter so that patients can see an audiologist for hearing loss. Although driven by its virtual nature, the model includes periodic in-person visits at the shelter by a physician. Currently, we are holding these clinics once per week at Rush, alternating between in person and telemedicine visits every other week.
This clinic is housed in the Haymarket Center, 932 West Washington on Chicago’s Near West Side and is a bi-monthly clinic held on Wednesdays between 5 -7pm that provides acute care to individuals in the substance rehabilitation program. Rush students and clinicians (physician, nurse practitioner, physician assistant) provide focused physicals, basic treatments, health education, and referrals. Select over the counter and prescription medications are given free of charge.
CHC is the largest free health clinic in Illinois. CHC is located at 2611 West Chicago Avenue on Chicago’s West Side. Rush student and physician volunteers provide a weekly primary care clinic held on Wednesday evenings between 5-9pm at CHC. In this clinic, Rush student and physician volunteers provide physical exams, treatment, referrals, and health education to underserved adult patients. CHC is a fully equipped clinic with patient exam rooms, a pharmacy, lab, and an electronic medical record system, making it possible to provide comprehensive care. All services including medications and laboratory tests are free of charge.
Rush Street Medicine (RSM) is a partnership with The Night Ministry, a local nonprofit that provides housing, health care, and social services to adults and youth who struggle with homelessness and poverty. The purpose of RSM is to deliver free acute healthcare (e.g. wound care, antibiotics, prescription medications), make referrals to substance use treatment programs, offer harm reduction initiatives, and provide hospitality items to individuals in need by bringing care to encampments via a mobile medical van which operates across the West Side.