Construction begins for new Streamwood health center

When Bob Tanner noticed how many patients from Streamwood, Hanover Park and Bartlett were coming to his Elgin community health center for care, he saw a need for a similar facility in their area.

Tanner, the president and CEO of the Greater Elgin Family Care Center, hopes to begin filling that need in August, when the Streamwood Community Health Center opens its doors. Work on the center began Thursday in an exiting building in the Woodland Heights Shopping Center, 135 E. Irving Park Road, in Streamwood.

The center will provide health care services to residents who can afford to pay on a sliding scale based on income. Since emergency room visits are expensive, Tanner said GEFCC wants to provide services for those who have public aid, Medicaid or no insurance.

“We’re not an emergency room; we’re a doctor’s office,” Tanner said.

The center will have 11 examination rooms to provide pediatric care, obstetric care, gynecological care and family medicine. Hours will be expansive, Tanner said. It will have late weekday hours and be open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The building also will have green technologies such as automatic lights and water shut-offs.

One of the primary goals of the facility is providing access to affordable health care to residents of that area. The location was chosen because it is close to Hanover Park and Bartlett, and a Pace bus route goes past Woodland Heights Shopping Center, a place Tanner called a “natural gathering place for people.”

The center also is home to a Jewel-Osco and the Streamwood post office.

Three physicians and one physician’s assistant have been hired for the center, some of whom are transferring from other GEFCC centers.

A grant from Illinois Capital Development Board to renovate the building is providing some of the construction funding. GEFCC also wrote a grant to the Bureau of Primary Health Care for operational support, the status of which will be determined in June.