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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact:  Judith Haasis, 773-395-9901 x 20

COMMUNITYHEALTH OPENS MEDACCESS CHICAGO, A LICENSED PHARMACY
MAKING FREE PRESCRIPTION DRUGS AVAILABLE TO THE UNINSURED

ABBOTT, MERCK AND NOVARTIS ARE THE FIRST COMPANIES
TO DONATE BULK MEDICATIONS TO MEDACCESS CHICAGO

TERRY MASON, M.D, COMMISSIONER, CHICAGO DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH, AND ERIC WHITAKER, M.D., NEWLY APPOINTED EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT FOR STRATEGIC AFFILIATIONS AND COMMUNITY-BASED RESEARCH AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO MEDICAL CENTER, ARE KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

CHICAGO, Ill, October 3, 2007 -- CommunityHealth, the largest free clinic in Illinois and one of the largest in the United States, is pleased to announce the opening of MedAccess Chicago, a licensed pharmacy housed at the health center that will make free prescription medications available to uninsured patients throughout the city.  

  Lack of health insurance is a significant problem in this country, with lack of coverage accounting for 18,000 unnecessary deaths every year, according to the Institute of Medicine of Chicago. 
MedAccess Chicago is designed to help address that problem by putting prescription medications within reach of those who desperately need but cannot afford them.   

   The only pharmacy of its kind in the city -- and throughout the region – MedAccess Chicago has a goal of providing 100,000 free medications on an annual basis within the first five years of operation.

  Abbott, Merck and Novartis are the first pharmaceutical companies to provide bulk donations of medications to the program, with several other companies expected to sign on over the next six months.  MedAccess Chicago was made possible by major grants from the Otho S.A. Sprague Memorial Institute and the Chicago Community Trust.  

    “The uninsured live sicker and die earlier than people with health coverage,” said Judith Haasis, executive director of CommunityHealth.  “By investing in MedAccess Chicago we are helping to address a crucial issue facing thousands of low-income, uninsured individuals in our community who are unable to access medications that are vital to their health and well being.”  Haasis chairs the MedAccess Chicago Steering Committee comprised of key decision makers from the Alliance of Chicago Community Health Services and the University of Illinois College of Pharmacy.  Patients served by CommunityHealth and Erie Family Health Center will be the first to benefit from this new resource. 

    CommunityHealth will host a press conference on Thursday, October 11 from 10 AM – 11:30 AM to announce the launch of MedAccess Chicago and to showcase the innovative partnerships being forged to help low-income, uninsured individuals and families access care in this environment of shrinking community resources. Terry Mason, M.D., Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health, and Eric Whitaker, M.D., former Director of the Illinois Department of Public Health and now the Executive Vice President for Strategic Affiliations and Associate Dean for Community-Based Research, a new position at the University of Chicago Medical Center, are the keynote speakers.

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