Erie Family Health Center
About
At Erie, no one is ever turned away because of their ability to pay. We accept patients who have insurance and patients who do not have insurance.
With the assistance of Northwestern University medical students and community volunteers, the clinic began providing geriatric health care services two evenings a week. Over the next 10 years, Northwestern medical students expressed a growing interest in staffing a student-run clinic to provide community based medical services for low-income families. This dream was realized in 1968, when Erie expanded its services to serve low-income children and adults.
By 1970, Erie had evolved into a full-service community health center and was officially incorporated as a separate entity from Erie Neighborhood House. The 1980s brought more growth and change: The Erie Senior Health Center was established onsite at a high-rise apartment complex for senior citizens. The Erie Teen Health Center was converted from a makeshift clinic in an apartment into a full-fledged clinic in 1985.
In 1986, our original health center moved from Erie Street to Chicago Avenue. Erie established a full service Humboldt Park health center in 1986. In 1988, Chicago’s mayor declared October 6 Erie Family Health Center Day in recognition of Erie’s contributions to the health and well-being of Chicago’s medically underserved communities.
As the years passed, the number of patients in need of comprehensive, culturally sensitive health care services continued to increase. By 1987, our West Town location was serving more than 2,000 patients a month.
Today, Erie is a regional health care resource serving more than 82,000 patients a year at 13 health centers spanning the west side of Chicago to Waukegan. These sites include four large primary care centers that offer integrated medical and dental health services, three additional large primary care centers, the region’s oldest and largest comprehensive teen and young adult health center, and five school-based health centers.
Although 60 years have passed since Dr. Snyder first began providing medical care for West Town’s elderly, our mission remains the same: to deliver high quality health care services to the Chicago region’s medically underserved residents with compassion, cultural understanding and respect—regardless of their ability to pay.