On The South Side, Budget Cuts Affect Free Testing And Treatment For STDs

After losing a $2.5 million federal grant, the Chicago Department of Public Health reduced hours at its Roseland health clinic, 200 E. 115th St., to two days a week from five days. Photo credit: By Wendell Hutson
After losing a $2.5 million federal grant, the Chicago Department of Public Health reduced hours at its Roseland health clinic, 200 E. 115th St., to two days a week from five days. Photo credit: By Wendell Hutson

On The South Side, Budget Cuts Affect Free Testing And Treatment For STDs

BY WENDELL HUTSON, Contributing Writer

Budget cuts by the Chicago Department of Health have made it more difficult for low-income and unemployed residents to access free testing and treatment on the South Side for sexually transmitted diseases.

After losing a $2.5 million federal grant in 2017, the city’s health department closed its longtime Englewood health clinic on Jan. 12, 2018, thus eliminating free testing and treatment for common STDs such as Chlamydia and Gonorrhea.

The city’s health department received a $9.3 million federal grant from the Integrated HIV Surveillance and Prevention Program, and $1.2 million is used to operate its three STD clinics, said Elena Ivanova, a spokeswoman for the CDPH.

In 2018, the University of Illinois’ Mile Square Health Center took over health services at the clinic, 641 W. 63rd St., which includes STD testing and treatment.

Prior to taking over services from the city, the Mile Square Center was awarded a contract by the city in 2011 “to provide comprehensive primary care services at the Englewood clinic,” said Henry Taylor, chief executive officer of UI Health Mile Square Health Center.

Since the Mile Square replaced the city’s health clinic in Englewood, more patients have visited the Mile Square Center.

“In 2017, our Englewood location provided approximately 6,600 patient visits. [But Mile Square is] providing more patient visits than the Englewood clinic did when it was operational,” said Ivanova. “In August 2019, [Mile Square] provided 635 patient visits, as compared to Englewood, which provided 557 visits monthly, on average. To that end and because of funding limitations, there are no plans to reopen a clinic in Englewood.”

Further south though, the city reduced hours at its Roseland clinic, 200 E. 115th St., to two days a week from five days due to budget cuts, according to Ivanova. And unlike Englewood, there’s no Mile Square Center in Roseland to pick up the ‘slack,’ but there are Mile Square Centers in South Shore, Back of the Yards, Humbodlt Park, Cicero, and the Near West Side.

Also, the city operates one STD clinic in Lakeview and Austin that is open five days a week providing free testing and treatment, while the South Side clinic is only open on Mondays 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Thursdays 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Funding only allows each clinic to see no more than 16 patients daily, which includes HIV and Syphilis testing.

According to statistics, young adults could benefit from free testing and treatment for common STDs where 18 and 30-years-olds are the leading group contracting sexually transmitted diseases, according to a 2018 HIV/STI Surveillance Report by the CDPH.

The report showed adults between 20 and 29-years-old accounted for 16,410 of the 30,292 new Chlamydia cases reported in the Chicago area for 2017. Blacks accounted for the majority of Gonorrhea and Syphilis cases for the same year (2107), the last year data was available.

Current neighborhoods with the highest STD rates, according to the report, are North Lawndale and Washington Park with Chlamydia; Uptown, Washington Park and North Lawndale with Gonorrhea; and Edgewater, Uptown and Lakeview with Syphilis.

The second highest age group with Chlamydia in 2017 was adults 20 to 24-year-olds accounting for 10,206 cases with black women making up 60 percent, data showed.

One difference between the Mile Square Center and the city’s STD clinics is cost. Patients without insurance are asked to pay a $20 service fee when visiting the Mile Square Health Center even though many patients may be low-income or unemployed.

“During registration, patients without insurance are asked to pay a sliding fee, but we will treat anyone regardless if they cannot pay,” said Dr. Ashish Ansal, director of the Mile Square Clinic in Englewood. “For faster service, we ask everyone to call and make an appointment but walk-ins are accepted too,” she said.

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