Mile Square earns excellence in heart care

Mile Square Health Center at 2045 W. Washington Blvd. was named an Illinois "Your Healthcare Plus" top performer for excellence in caring for patients with heart failure.

Your Healthcare Plus is a Medicaid program that coordinates care for people with chronic illnesses. Mile Square was recognized for achieving high marks in commonly recognized measures of quality.

"We are honored to have this distinguished recognition," said Henry Taylor, director of Mile Square Health Center. "To be recognized for providing high-quality care to medically underserved high-risk patient populations is our primary goal. We want to be known for providing unsurpassed care in the heart of your community."

Mile Square is 11 sites that are federally qualified health centers operated by the University of Illinois at Chicago. The UIC College of Medicine and the University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago enables Mile Square to bring the highest quality of care to the neighborhood and allows patients to take advantage of specialty care when appropriate.

Four regional primary care clinics include the main site on Washington Boulevard and the South Shore, Back of the Yards, and Cicero clinics. Four school-based health centers are associated with the UIC School of Public Health, and three UIC College of Nursing sites provide primary care to patients with chronic mental illness.

In its award letter, Your Healthcare Plus cited Mile Square's strategic management of patients with heart failure.

"Mile Square has set a strong example for quality care," said Dr. Carrie Nelson, Your Healthcare Plus medical director. "That's good for our health system and for the people of Illinois."