Mayor Rahm Emanuel, the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) and Presence Health announced the formation of a first-of-its-kind Wellness Partnership that includes a substantial investment in new community-based preventative health initiatives to create significant savings and improve the overall health and well-being of Chicago residents.

The Wellness Partnership takes advantage of a new opportunity for care under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). As a result of the ACA, more Americans have access to health insurance – many for the first time. Better access to primary care doctors and preventative care will improve outcomes as well as decrease dependence on the use of emergency rooms for primary care. Hospital systems such as Presence Health project a reduction in costs associated with their Emergency Departments over time, freeing up funding to invest in new efforts to improve the overall health and well-being of the communities they serve.

For the next twelve months, the Wellness Partnership will run a pilot phase, focusing on preventative health initiatives around the earliest stages of life, specifically supporting new parents in some of Chicago’s most underserved communities to help improve the health of their babies. Lessons from the pilot phase will be used as the Partnership works to identify and fund other initiatives and programs.