Heartland Alliance Health will remain open after annoucing plans to close its clinics in Englewood and Uptown and three food pantries earlier this month.
A notice on Heartland’s website says: “We have exciting news! We are staying OPEN!!” The website says Heartland is contacting those who already received notice that the provider was closing, and rescheduling their services.
Heartland did not immediately respond to questions Thursday morning from the Tribune. But Heartland is remaining open thanks to a “multimillion dollar grant” from Michigan-based One Health, said Michael Brieschke, a housing case manager with Heartland Human Care Services and chairperson of the Heartland Alliance Union. The union is part of the National Organization of Legal Service Workers/UAW local 2320.”
“We are so grateful,” Brieschke said. “It was kind of a Hail Mary that worked.”
Brieschke said that Cook County Commissioner Stanley Moore helped connect Heartland with One Health after hearing about Heartland’s impending closure. It wasn’t immediately clear Thursday morning the terms of the funding or exactly how long it will allow Heartland Alliance Health to stay open. Attempts to reach Moore and One Health for comment were not immediately successful Thursday morning.
Heartland Alliance Health serves many people experiencing homelessness, and is a federally qualified health center meaning it receives federal funding to provide care. Its Vital Bridges food pantries focus on serving people who are HIV positive, Brieschke said. Heartland Health Allance spun off from social services organization Heartland Alliance last year after years of financial struggles.
Heartland Health Alliance had told employees earlier this month that its two clinics would close Feb. 26, and the organization’s food pantry locations, in Edgewater, Garfield Park and Grand Crossing, would close Feb. 22, Brieschke said. Heartland Alliance Health’s 113 employees had been told their last day of work would be Feb. 28.
Heartland said in a statement at the time that it had “strived to find an independent path forward while maintaining its focus on meeting the needs of our participants and staff for nearly a year post-separation,” but the organization had “determined that it no longer has a sustainable path forward and must wind down operations.”