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Policy and advocacy
Health equity research
Community engagement
Education and workforce development
But hundreds of years of systemic racism and economic deprivation stand in the way of equal access.
One of the clearest illustrations: the huge, needless and unjust gap in life expectancy between majority-white Chicago neighborhoods and neighborhoods where residents are mostly people of color.
The Institute is an umbrella over the amazing health equity work that RUSH employees, faculty and students have been doing for decades, within RUSH and in the community.
The Institute serves as an integrated center to coordinate RUSH health equity work, convene partners, build relationships and collaborations, evaluate program effectiveness and scale programs that get results.
With thousands of employees, students and community partners working toward health equity every day across the RUSH system, it would be impossible to show you every effort. The voices collected here reflect just a sample of the ongoing work.
In 2016, RUSH launched a strategy for closing that gap. We doubled down when the COVID-19 pandemic revealed the true depth of inequities.
In 2021, we took the next step forward, launching the RUSH BMO Institute for Health Equity with a lead grant of $10 million from BMO Financial Group.
Systemic racism
Racism is more than individual prejudices. It's also baked into the structure of society and institutions. It affects access to everything people need in order to thrive, like health care, education, housing, employment and food.
The impact of systemic racism: a lack of resources and opportunities. Poverty is the result.
Economic deprivation
More than 50 years ago, we opened a community health center on the West Side.
Some of RUSH's many partners in health equity work include West Side United, DePaul University, and the University of Chicago
Convene partners
For more, see our Community Health Needs Assessment/Community Health Implementation Plan and the Office of Community Health Equity and Engagement Impact Report.
Community clinical practice
2022 RUSH milestones
Measures of impact
Health equity goals
Spotlight story
Overview
Community clinical practice at RUSH means delivering care in neighborhoods when, where and how people need it most: in schools, in their homes, in shelters. Our goals are to make sure that everyone has equitable opportunities to thrive, access to high-quality clinical care and resources for meeting their social needs. And our most important mission is to make sure that no one falls through the cracks.
Trusted clinicians embedded in community settings improve health for whole families. Elisabeth Barrett, NP, DNP, is a primary care provider at Sue Gin Health Center in the Oakley Square housing community. She spent nearly a year building trust with one Oakley Square resident who hadn't been getting care — and ended up providing lifesaving care to the woman's son.
Click through to see what our teams and partners have to say
His recovery just would never have happened without that family connection.
Elisabeth Barrett, NP, DNP, Sue Gin Health Center
Read the full story
Health equity
is achieved when everyone has equal
access to the resources they need to live safe, healthy, fulfilling lives, no matter where they live.
RUSH BMO Institute for Health Equity
Convene partners to identify, incubate and establish new programs aimed at filling gaps in care
Evaluate programs’ effectiveness and provide successful programs with the structure and resources to grow
Scale and replicate the most effective programs for other settings, communities and cities
Identify programmatic and health outcome gaps in RUSH's work to address health inequities
Develop a strategic plan in partnership with the community to prioritize addressing gaps
for chronic diseases, including diabetes and heart disease, through community-based practices and health workers embedded in target neighborhoods
Reduction of residents’ risk factors
of mental health screenings and community-based mental health care for Chicago Public Schools students
Expansion
screenings for social determinants of health
27,000+
RUSH@Home house calls for homebound adults
1,472
psychotherapy sessions with community members
8,151
patient visits across community practice sites
10,000+
hours of direct care provided by Rush University College of Nursing students
75,000+
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Elisabeth Barrett, NP, DNP, Sue Gin Health Center
S
His improvement has been incredible — his heart function has doubled. We recently worked on his résumé so he could get a job to earn money for a car so he can return to school, and he's actually starting in Environmental Services at RUSH in mid-November. I also see his grandma a lot, and am still working with his mom. His recovery just would never have happened without that family connection...I'm not sure he would ever have picked up his meds or gotten to a cardiologist. Now, he's planning to go back to school and has set a goal of losing 100 pounds this year.
omeone was banging on the door one day. I opened it and my patient was there looking panicked. She asked, "Can you help figure out my son's
oxygen?" I said of course and went up to her apartment, where I saw a young man in bed — and then realized that I had seen him for his college physical a year before. While he was at school downstate, he was ill with a virus and ended up hospitalized in his small college town. He was in heart failure with his heart pumping at just 20%, but was discharged with prescriptions that nobody explained to him, an oxygen tank and CPAP machine that he didn't know how to use, and a LifeVest wearable defibrillator that he wasn't wearing. I was able to get him a cardiology appointment right away at RUSH Oak Park Hospital; then, for several months, I saw him every day.
in Chauncey & Marion D. McCormick Family Foundation funding to support health equity education and workforce development initiatives, and currently, a coordinator of educational alliances
$1 million
donation to establish the Fran and John Edwardson Health Sciences Scholarship Fund for tuition support for students with demonstrated financial need in the Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences program and to establish the BSHS Program Fund to meet students’ non-tuition needs
$1 million
community educators taught at RUSH University under new compensation model
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Invest in academic partnerships to strengthen and expand health care professions pipeline programs
Expand and scale workforce pipelines from the community to health care jobs and workforce programs for frontline RUSH employees
Provide faculty development tools and training to help them deliver racially sensitive health equity content
Train health professionals to prioritize providing equitable care
(e.g., eliminating race-based algorithms)
Partner with curriculum committees and faculty to ensure inclusion of health equity sensibilities and racially conscious content across all RUSH University programs; integrate community educators into curricula
Octavio Vega, MD, internal medicine specialist and community health equity track program director
Residents learn not only what victims of violence go through, but also what the people who are helping go through.
Read the full story
The internal medicine residency program at RUSH Medical College offers a unique health equity track that equips physicians to advocate for health equity through their careers. Residents who choose the community health branch of the track work for
two weeks with community-based organizations (CBOs). In 2022, Institute funding supported a pilot to compensate CBOs for the time and expertise they provide to this essential training.
The Institute supports a health equity focus in educational and career opportunities for community members, current employees and RUSH University students.
2022 RUSH milestones
Measures of impact
Health equity goals
Spotlight story
Overview
Education and workforce development
We've also deepened our relationships with the CBOs. For example, INVC has clients who have ongoing medical needs like wound care, so we offered wound care training at RUSH for their staff. We also had an 'Ask the Doc' table at their staff wellness fair, where we talked about everything from how to sign up for health insurance to specific questions about conditions like diabetes. We've made a point of being purposeful in asking their staff how we can serve them while they're hosting our residents — we think it's important for the relationship to be mutually beneficial.
(INVC). At INVC, residents spend time with case managers and victim service advocates who are out in the community. Actually going to the organizations gives you a deep understanding of what the key players do and who they serve — definitely something you can't replicate in the classroom. Residents learn not only what victims of violence go through, but also what the people who are helping go through. Next time they encounter a patient who's lived through something similar, they'll have the background to help them provide better care.
he community-based organizations that have engaged the most with our residents are Beyond Hunger and the Institute for Nonviolence Chicago
T
Octavio Vega, MD, internal medicine specialist and
community health equity track program director
Sharon Gates, senior director of student diversity and community engagement, RUSH University
One [RUSH Community Services Initiatives Program (RCSIP)] student said recently, 'I get it, Sharon. These families that we're working with, they want the same thing that my mom wants for me.'
Read more
Steven Rothschild, MD, chair, Department of Family Medicine, RUSH Medical College
Together with our partners at Esperanza, we are launching a residency that will not just train family physicians who are outstanding in preventing, diagnosing and treating diseases — but will also teach them the value of partnering with community members to improve social conditions in domains such as education, the environment, nutrition, mental health and other factors that shape our health.
Amaree Delton, medical assistant apprentice in
RUSH/Harper College partnership program
Maybe someday I’ll be an RN. But today I know that as a medical assistant I’ll be helping patients right away ... and as a Black woman, I might be able to connect with many patients in a different way that might help them feel better and get better.
paid high school and college interns
175
meals provided to community residents
5,000+
health promotion and disease promotion workshops with
29
outreach encounters through the RUSH Community Health Worker Hub
5,831
Shrink the West Side life expectancy gap 50% by 2030
Partner with community organizations, high schools and colleges to create more paths to health care jobs that provide family-supporting wages
Improve community-based nonprofits’ capacity by helping them evaluate their programs, measure their impact and secure grant funding
Strengthen hiring, volunteerism and impact investment for community development in target neighborhoods
Scale successful community engagement partnerships and programs that address the social and structural determinants of health
Nykesha Jones, RUSH community health worker and West Side resident
Nobody wants to say that they don't have food.
Read the full story
RUSH providers know that food is medicine: Access to healthy food is crucial for good health and quality of life. RUSH University Medical Center is the first hospital in Chicago to create a way for people in need to have ongoing access to healthy food. With a prescription from a provider, people can "shop" the VeggieRx pantry on the Medical Center campus. Community health workers also sign them up for two home food deliveries, help them apply for long-term food assistance and connect them with other resources like help with transportation and housing assistance.
2022 RUSH milestones
Measures of impact
Health equity goals
Spotlight story
Overview
Community engagement
We also ask if they have a way to get back and forth to the doctor, if they have a home, if they've been worried about paying utility bills. Then we can connect them with local resources. Not long ago I had one person who was worried about getting their lights cut off, and I connected them with assistance that cleared it up that day. Resources like that are essential, but they're not always available — and the need is far greater than the resources.
and beans, cereal, tortillas, bread. They also get a big bag of fresh fruit and vegetables. A box might have bananas, apples, oranges, broccoli, sweet potatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, cabbage. We give them recipes that RUSH nutrition students put together, and we talk about healthy eating and making better food choices.
obody wants to say that they don't have food. You'll hear them say, "oh, I'm behind on some things," and then you know. We have canned vegetables
N
Nykesha Jones, RUSH community health worker and West Side resident
Click through to read what the community has to say
Jada Roberson, MAAFA Redemption Project media team member, West Garfield Park
James Borishade, CEO and executive director, Circle Urban Ministries, Austin
Because Rush partnered with the Chicago Community Loan Fund and us, you now have 12 mothers who, each year, will receive life-changing substance abuse recovery. On top of that, those mothers will be able to create generational wealth and contribute to the pipeline of success.
Jayline Perez Garcia, RUSH Education and Career Hub (REACH) alum; 2021 graduate of Roosevelt University and aspiring surgeon
In REACH programs, I saw the first physician of color I’ve ever seen in my life. ... Mentorship to Brown and Black students, first-generation students and students from all walks of life is so important, because they deserve to live their dream and have someone to rely on in their pre-med journey.
for faculty and practitioners in health equity, social justice and structural racism through a collaboration with Currence Solutions, a consulting firm specializing in equity and learning
Increase in continuing education opportunities
of social determinants, their impact on health outcomes and ways to address disparities
Increase in RUSH University students' understanding
in West Side communities and amount spent with West Side vendors
Amount of investment
RUSH clinicians refer to community-based support for unmet needs: food security, mental health, addiction, weight loss, etc.
Number of people
Community clinical practice at RUSH means delivering care in neighborhoods when, where and how people need it most: in schools, in their homes, in shelters.
Our goals are to make sure that everyone has equitable opportunities to thrive, access to high-quality clinical care and resources for meeting their social needs. And our most important mission is to make sure that no one falls through the cracks.
Education helps build wealth and health for people who live in disinvested neighborhoods: Those who complete education beyond high school have higher incomes, longer lives and better health outcomes, and building a diverse health care workforce leads to higher-quality care for a diverse patient population. We're also committed to offering career pathways to RUSH employees — our "first community."
And at RUSH University, we aim to develop future health care leaders and providers with the skills to identify and respond to health-related social needs while also addressing the structural and social determinants of health. When students and faculty see their work through a health equity lens, they go into the world as advocates for equitable care and resources.
For decades, RUSH led many community partnerships aimed at improving individuals' health,
but those programs were never designed to move the needle on community health outcomes. The Institute supports innovative programs and community partnerships that target social and health inequities. RUSH initiatives fight food insecurity, invest in neighborhoods, hire local residents as community health workers, boost public school students' engagement with STEM and much more.
Angela Moss, PhD, MSN, APN-BC, RN, assistant dean for faculty practice, RUSH University College of Nursing
Our nurses are experts in community health and understand the complexities of caring for a patient who is not only facing health care needs because of COVID, but might also have high blood pressure, diabetes, substance use disorders ... or other chronic conditions.
Eugenia Olison, LPC, program manager, Center to Transform Health and Housing
One of the things that the Center to Transform Health and Housing works to do is increase access to health care by providing care where [people] are — care where they call home, care at shelters, care on the streets, care in several other congregate settings.
Virag Nanavati, Wendell Phillips Academy High School interim principal
With the community we’re in and the trauma we’ve experienced as a school, it’s very beneficial that our students have access to social workers, counselors, nurse practitioners, and our students are taking advantage of these services.
I think Rush's work in the West Side community has been a testament to showing that there are ... large companies that do want to give back to the community, and do want to sow into the community. Them being here, not only just to donate, but to lend their time as well, shows that they're not afraid to get their hands dirty.
with paid internship experiences; percentage of BIPOC students employed in STEM and health care careers
Number of high school and college students
Decrease in the West Side life expectancy gap
hired from West Side communities
Percentage of RUSH employees
Community clinical practice
Began building new health equity curriculum, creating faculty development programming and mapping the current curriculum across all four colleges
300+
of RUSH hires — employees — came from Anchor Mission communities
400
18%
participants
I tell everybody: If you need the help, take the help. We're all doing the best we can.
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant to collect and integrate social determinants of health data with clinical data
$1.87 million
health equity scholars and new faculty recruits focusing on health equity
3
National Institutes of Health grant for RUSH/University of Chicago partnership
$20 million
Established monthly community of practice sessions for researchers to share knowledge
Number of health equity research studies conducted at RUSH
working to develop as many novel, sustainable and replicable solutions as possible
Number of health equity researchers at RUSH
Develop and equip the next generation of community-engaged health equity scholars.
Participate in multi-partner federal grants focused on health equity in the Chicago region
Expand community-based research to develop, test and evaluate novel interventions that improve health outcomes
Work closely with community members, leaders and organizations to lift barriers that prevent community participation
Combine community wisdom with academic rigor to create innovative approaches to eliminating disparities
Pastor Steve M. Epting Sr., Hope Community Church in the Austin neighborhood of Chicago
Our research work together shows that partnerships between health care organizations and faith-based organizations can work.
Read the full story
On Chicago's West Side, houses of worship are trusted community hubs. Since 2011, RUSH has partnered with pastors and church members in the Alive Faith Network community-based research collaboration at the intersection of spiritual, physical and mental wellness.
A bedrock principle of health equity at RUSH
is that people most affected by the health conditions that result from unequal access to resources must have a voice in finding the solutions. The Institute supports RUSH health equity researchers who work with and within the community to identify and prioritize health disparities and advance the knowledge needed to improve health and health equity.
2022 RUSH milestones
Measures of impact
Health equity goals
Spotlight story
Overview
Health equity research
"Our research work together shows that partnerships between health care organizations and faith-based organizations can work," Epting says. "In the medical field, there’s a language, and in the faith field there’s a language. We’ve learned each other’s languages. I find myself making sure we have things well put together from their point of view, and they do the same for us. When we started working with Rush, I thought it was a great idea but didn’t plan on being so involved. And then we really started to be fed through the work."
collaborations. A co-investigator on the published research study on the effectiveness of health screenings and follow-up at seven West Side churches, he also helps drive AFN's participation in RUSH studies of church-based COVID-19 testing sites, food insecurity, mental health needs and chronic heart disease.
astor Steve M. Epting Sr. of Hope Community Church in the Austin neighborhood is a leader in the network and a RUSH partner in multiple
P
Mattie Hunter, Illinois state Senator (Third District)
We’ve seen thousands of deaths due to COVID-19, and we’ve seen how racism has intensified the effects of the pandemic.
It’s time to take action against the factors that led us here.
Amaree Delton, medical assistant apprentice in
RUSH/Harper College partnership program
Generous support from the [Institute's] Health Equity Research Scholar Program allows me to better partner with the local Chinese American community in Chicago and promote health equity in access to care among this vulnerable population.
2
grant from The Commonwealth Fund to test and validate the Racial Equity in Health Care Progress Report, a tool to assess hospitals' work to promote racial equity nationwide
$709,000
Read more
Elizabeth Lynch, PhD, associate professor of preventive medicine at Rush Medical College;
co-director of the Chicago Chronic Condition Equity Network (C3EN)
The goal of our community-based research network is to give a voice to the people most affected by the chronic health conditions that result from unequal access to resources. Community engagement is crucial to finding effective solutions.
Chien-Ching Li, PhD, MPH, associate professor and health service researcher in the RUSH College
of Health Sciences Department of Health Systems Management; Health Equity Research Scholar
Generous support from the [Institute's] Health Equity Research Scholar Program allows me to better partner with the local Chinese American community in Chicago and promote health equity in access to care among this vulnerable population.
achieved by leveraging philanthropic investment along with local, state and federal grants — to ensure that we produce well-resourced studies likely to make a meaningful impact
Amount of external funding for our health equity research —
for IHA Health Equity Progress Report
Top 5 performance in Illinois
with other health care institutions, community nonprofits and others in the space
Number of partnerships
providing legislative testimonies, consultations with legislators and other policymakers
Number of RUSH experts
and other thought leadership from RUSH staff
Number of publications, op-ed pieces, interviews
Number of events
Publish, disseminate and track health equity scholarly products (white papers, articles, op-eds) and establish social media presence
advocating for health equity
Educate and partner with leaders at various levels of government to make recommendations for health equity reform
Convene internal and external leaders to leverage partnerships, expertise and opportunities to shape health equity advocacy on issues including health care access, social determinants of health, health disparities and health financing reform
Review and develop recommendations for RUSH internal policies, practices and procedures that facilitate health equity
Identify and seize opportunities to connect with governmental leaders, advocates and organizations to inform and advance health equity policymaking
Read the full story
Click through to read what our teams and partners have to say
addressing not only the social and structural determinants of health, but also the systemic and political determinants. Experts from across the RUSH system contribute by developing policy proposals; evaluating other organizations' policy proposals and their implications; and serving as a voice to local, state and national leaders and groups to share RUSH's strategies for achieving health equity.
The Institute aims to help shape the local and national discourse around health equity —
John Rich, MD, MPH, director, RUSH BMO Institute for Health Equity, commenting on the 2022 White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health
Additionally, asking these key questions [about social determinants of health] reminds clinicians of the importance of understanding how health-related social needs and social determinants of health are a significant part of the care equation of each unique patient.
2022 RUSH milestones
Measures of impact
Health equity goals
Spotlight story
Overview
Policy and advocacy
Ansell: One of the things that COVID did for the country was play out, in real time, what inequity does. The one good thing about the pandemic is at least we don't have to make the argument anymore that equity is a challenge. Now we can shift to solutions, and this room is filled with people that made solutions over the last year. ... Equity comes to a head at 2 a.m. when there's an undocumented patient who needs an ECMO circuit in Chicago. The honest answer is, it has to be built into the DNA of your hospital. ... We have to start calling out health care as a human right. What unites this room is a group of people who don't just have each other's cell numbers — they have the same philosophy.
Our experts gave him a detailed look at Chicago's life expectancy gap, RUSH's work with communities to close the gap, the goals of the Institute, and RUSH's leadership in Chicago during the COVID-19 pandemic. The conversation included the following from Becerra and David Ansell, MD, MPH, RUSH senior vice president for community health equity.
Understanding the conditions that patients are returning to as they continue to recover is essential to ensuring they are on the road to healing.
Ernest (E.J.) Willingham, RUSH medical assistant, testifying before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee
Our youth are terrified, unsafe and pleading with elected officials in Washington to muster the courage to protect them.
One of my students expressed that she was indecisive about going away for college or staying home due to our country’s current gun violence climate.
Rev. Marshall Hatch Sr., senior pastor, New Mt. Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church, West Garfield Park, commenting on the closure of one of the few grocery stores serving the neighborhood
The store was clearly profitable and patronized, and Aldi’s corporate behavior in this era of racial reckoning is reprehensible, [and] must be called out and made right.
Aldi left this community in the middle of the night without warning or regard that they have left a food desert more deserted.
Becerra: What does it take to get institutions to be committed — to be invested [in health equity]?
joined consortium led by University of Illinois Chicago to support newly approved policy for public aid reimbursement for postpartum nurse and doula services
RUSH University College of Nursing
of the Illinois Chicago Health Worker Advisory Board to help the state implement Medicaid billing for community health worker services
Active member
Launched Health Equity Speaker Series
with other Chicago health care, service and government agencies through the RUSH Center to Transform Health and Housing's leadership in the Chicago Homelessness and Health Response Group for Equity (CHHRGE)
Advocacy and collaboration
In late 2021, RUSH University Medical Center had the honor of welcoming U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra. He visited the Medical Center for a roundtable discussion of health equity with leaders from RUSH, government agencies and community-based organizations.
To our donors: Thank you
Support from our generous community of philanthropic partners propels our work to close Chicago’s life expectancy gap. In fiscal year 2022, 535 generous supporters donated more than $14.2 million to support RUSH’s health equity initiatives. These gifts and grants — which came in all sizes — made possible the incredible progress outlined in this report, and more. From piloting new programs to expanding and scaling high-impact solutions, our philanthropic supporters fuel and sustain the efforts of RUSH and our community partners. RUSH is incredibly grateful to the individuals, families, organizations, foundations and corporations that chose to partner with us and invest in this critical work. Together, we are working to ensure that everyone, across the Chicago area and beyond, has a fair chance at long, healthy lives. Thank you for your support.
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Watch Pastor Epting and RUSH researcher Elizabeth Lynch, MD, talk about the Abundant Living program and related studies.
Make a gift to RUSH's health equity programs
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Use data to influence public policy, giving all of our neighbors a better chance at healthy lives
invested since 2019 in impact investment loans that help fund social impact improvement projects on the West Side
$6.2 million
in quarterly Health Equity Speaker Series
including participants in health and wellness education programming, outreach attempts by community health workers and people given harm reduction kits that include fentanyl test strips and naloxone nasal spray
Number of social care encounters,
including visits to School-Based Health Centers and the Adolescent Family Center, home visits by the RUSH@Home program and vaccinations provided by the community testing and vaccination team
Number of clinical encounters,