Sixteenth Street Community Health Centers (SSCHC) officially announced on Tuesday its plans to construct a three-story, 21,000-square-foot clinic at 1018 Caesar Chavez Drive, expanding its headquarters on Milwaukee's south side. The new clinic will be constructed as an addition to the existing SSCHC headquarters at 1032 Cesar Chavez Drive.
Funded in part by a $4.7 million gift from
Froedtert Health, the $9 million expansion will allow the SSCHC to offer primary medical care, integrated behavioral health services, supportive social services, and wellness classes. The addition will also provide space for a new pharmacy within the clinic.
More than 45,000 individuals rely on Sixteenth Street and the development is estimated to accommodate an additional 32,000 visits annually for people of the south side community who are currently without needed care, according to SSCHC.
Sixteenth Street acquired the property at 1018 Caesar Chavez Drive for approximately $200,000 in February. The structure that sits there now – a two-story commercial building – will be demolished to make way for the addition. SSCHC is developing plans to address parking concerns for the clinic, a release states.
GROTH Design Group is the architect and Berghammer is the contractor for the expanded clinic. The new space is slated to open in the fall of 2024.
Pharmacy
More than $2 million of the cost of the project is being provided through a state health care infrastructure grant awarded by Gov. Tony Evers in March of 2022. U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore also helped to secure another $1.25 million in federal funding to help progress the project, a press release states. Other funding resources include the federal Health Resources and Services Administration, which provided another $1 million for the project.
“Every Wisconsinite should have access to quality, affordable health care, and I know that’s a belief the good folks at Sixteenth Street and I share,” Gov. Evers said in a statement. “I was glad to support this project with more than $2 million from our allocation of federal American Rescue Plan Act funds to build upon Sixteenth Street’s critical work and ensure thousands more families on the south side of Milwaukee get access to the care they need.”
The expansion supports an integrated model of health care where community members can find all of the health care services that they need under one roof. The new pharmacy, which will allow patients to get their medication right after their appointments, is one of the only pharmacies to be introduced to the area and the second pharmacy to be located within SSCHC’s clinics. SSCHC also houses an Advocate Aurora Health pharmacy at its Parkway Clinic at 2906 South 20th Street.
Mental health services
The majority of the second floor of the expansion will offer the community additional mental health services including substance use disorder services, additional space, and rooms for groups. At the Chavez Clinic location, SSCHC will offer integrated mental health services, a care model offered by Sixteenth Street Community Health Centers’ providers.
“Mental health and substance use remain significant health issues in our community,” said Cathy Jacobson, president and chief executive officer of Froedtert Health. “This latest gift to Sixteenth Street Community Health Centers affirms our commitment to make a positive, sustained impact in the heart of Milwaukee and to expand access to care for those who need it most.”
Moms and babies
The Chavez location will also offer group pregnancy classes, bringing women together who are all due to have their babies around the same time for their care; and allow SSCHC to move its well-known Lead Program and its Women, Infant and Children (WIC) program from their current location at 1337 S. Cesar E. Chavez Dr. to the Chavez Clinic at 1032 S. Cesar E. Chavez Dr. SSCHC’s Lead Program has been helping families protect children from lead poisoning for more than 25 years by partnering with the Milwaukee Health Department to provide free home-based outreach.
“We are steadfast in our commitment to breaking down barriers to care by bringing quality medical and behavioral health care into communities most in need and addressing social determinants of health through community-based strategies,” said
Julie Schuller, president and CEO of Sixteenth Street Community Health Centers. “This new clinic will allow us to expand access to care for thousands of individuals and families and better serve those we are already touching through increased provider capacity and enhanced space for supplemental and community services.”
SSCHC operates seven clinics in Milwaukee and one in Waukesha. The clinics offer primary medical care, behavioral health services, substance abuse services, social services, various supplemental services, community advocacy and overall family health care, and provides bilingual care to everyone regardless of insurance status. In addition, SSCHC has clinics in 23 schools.
