From press release

Crusader Community Health received $5,342,337 in grant funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to construct a new site in Loves Park and continue renovation of unused space at the existing Crusader Community Health on Broadway-Uram Building.

The Crusader grant was part of the Obama administration announcement of $508 million in Facility Investment Program grants to 85 community health centers nationwide to address the pressing needs of health center facilities and expanded their capacities to serve an additional 500,000 patients. Nationwide, there are 1,100 Community Health Center grantees that served more than 17 million medically-underserved people.

The Crusaders Central Clinic Association is a not-for-profit, 501(c)(3), Federally Qualified Health Center that has provided access to primary health care to the medically underserved of northwest Illinois since 1972. The Crusader Community Health Network now serves multiple counties in northern Illinois including Boone, Winnebago and Stephenson, and provides care to more than 40,000 individual patients annually in our region.
Crusader is experiencing an increased demand for care that warrants the development of a new clinic to improve access to care. More medical and dental visits are provided now than any other time in our 37-year history. The number of visits by uninsured patients rose 45 percent for March 2009 compared to March 2008,

noted Gordon Eggers Jr., president & CEO, Crusader Community Health. More than 600 new patients register for Crusader care monthly.

Plans are to construct a new facility to accommodate four medical providersa family practice physician, a pediatrician, a mid-level medical provider, a dentist and specialty clinics including OB/GYN, podiatry and pain management. It is projected that an additional 4,500 patients will be served on an annual basis.

The new health center will be built on vacant land near the vicinity of North Second Street and Clifton Avenue, Loves Park, as a LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) certified building. This new are was targeted to address the healthcare needs of those with limited incomes, uninsured and on Medicaid and will be a welcome referral source for patients who are using costly emergency rooms for their primary healthcare.

This grant will also renovate space in the Crusader Community Health on Broadway-Uram Building, Broadway & 7th Street, to accommodate a new Call Center, an education center, sidewalk repair and staff lunch room. The Call Center will greatly improve access to care as patients will be efficiently scheduled for their appointment and calls answered more timely. This is especially critical as the clinic is experiencing an increased demand for care that provided more than 167,000 patient visits in 2008.

Special thanks to U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin and U.S. Rep. Don Manzullo for their support of

Crusader Community Health and Federally Qualified Health Centers.

Crusader Community Health is community-based, not-for-profit Illinois corporation whose mission is to serve the Rock River Valley area with quality, primary health care for people in need. Services are available on a sliding discount basis. There are three locations: Crusader Community Health on West State Street, 1200 W. State St.; Crusader Community Health on Broadway-Uram Building, Broadway & 7th St.; Crusader Community Health Belvidere, 1050 Logan Ave., Belvidere. For an appointment, call (815) 490-1600 or for more information on Crusader Community Health, visit: www.crusaderhealth.org<http://www.crusaderhealth.org/>.

From the Dec. 30, 2009 – Jan. 5, 2010 issue