The area around Cermak Road and Harlem Avenue in North Riverside is becoming something of a healthcare hot bed.
Loyola University Medical Center has operated a primary care center at 1950 Harlem Ave. for years, and last week the Cook County Board of Commissioners approved a lease deal to bring a 21,000-square-foot primary care health center to the former Sports Authority space at 1800 Harlem Ave.
At the same time, Rush University Medical Center has announced the opening of its first offsite pediatric primary care center inside the MB Financial Bank building at 7222 Cermak Road, about a half block west of Harlem Avenue.
Rush University Children’s Hospital North Riverside is a 2,500-square-foot clinic in Suite 718 of the high-rise building. It has six exam rooms and is open six days a week: Monday, Thursday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Wednesday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon.
In addition, the clinic is open to walk-in patients Monday through Saturday from 8 to 9 a.m.
The clinic is staffed by three doctors and provides a full range of pediatric care services, from treating common ailments such as ear and throat infections to providing school and sports physicals, giving immunizations and coordinating care for chronic conditions such as diabetes.
While the clinic serves all children, the North Riverside clinic, according to a press release announcing its opening, will have a particular focus “on the chronic medical conditions that disproportionately affect Latino children, including asthma and childhood obesity.”
The physicians and staff at the clinic are fluent in both English and Spanish, according to the press release.
