VNA breaks ground for Joliet clinic

Joliet — VNA Health Care on Tuesday held a groundbreaking ceremony for its future community health center on Jefferson Street.

The 14,000-square-foot facility will enable VNA to expand care now provided to uninsured and underinsured patients in the Joliet area, VNA said in a news release. VNA has operated in Joliet since 2015 from leased offices on Glenwood Avenue.

The location at 1501 W. Jefferson St. is expected to open in the summer of 2023.

VNA said it will be able to serve 5,000 more patients and complete 25,000 more exams over the next 30 months because of the expansion of its operation.

“Community health centers play a vital role in our health care system, and we look forward to expanding our services and increasing our capacity for those in need through this new health center,” VNA President and CEO Linnea Windel said.

Windel spoke at the groundbreaking, where she was joined by Mayor Bob O’Dekirk, state Rep. Larry Walsh Jr., D-Elwood, Will County board members and representatives from the offices of U.S. Senator Dick Durbin and U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood, D-Naperville.

The new VNA facility will contain 26 medical exam rooms, a wellness kitchen, waiting areas, laboratory, nursing stations and mental and behavioral health counseling rooms. VNA physicians and nurse practitioners will offer family practice, obstetrics, pediatrics and mental and behavioral health services.

According to VNA, Joliet and surrounding communities to be served by the new facility have a low-income population of 71,000, but only 26,000 are served by community health centers that provide care for uninsured and underinsured patients.

The facility is being built with the help of a $1.3 million federal grant provided through the American Rescue Plan of 2021.

Aurora-based VNA describes itself as the largest community health center in the Chicago suburbs, serving more than 75,000 patients each year at 16 clinics.