April 28, 2024
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VNA plans new community health center in Joliet

Construction of Jefferson Street building expected to start in the spring

By Bob Okon

VNA Health Care has been in Joliet at 2400 Glenwood Ave. since 2015. It plans to start construction next year on a new building on West Jefferson Street. (Bob Okon)

VNA Health Care plans to expand its community health center in Joliet with a new clinic to be built on Jefferson Street next year.

VNA is a Federally Qualified Health Center providing medical services for uninsured and under-insured patients in suburban communities in the Chicago region including Bolingbrook and Romeoville.

The nonprofit health provider plans to begin construction on the new Joliet facility in the spring and open it for services in early 2023.

The building will be in the 1400 block of West Jefferson Street on a now vacant parcel located along the north side of the street and west of Midland Avenue.

VNA Health Care will build a 10,000-square-foot building in Joliet along Jefferson Street west of this Midland Avenue intersection. (Bob Okon)

VNA acquired the land at about the same time it began providing health services in Joliet in 2015 with plans to build its own facility at some point, said VNA President Linnea Windel.

“This will give us room to see more patients and add other services,” Windel said. “We’re really excited that we’re going to be able to expand.”

The 10,000-square-foot building will provide five times the space VNA now uses at its rented offices at 2400 Glenwood Ave.

Windel said VNA will add behavioral health services, including social work and psychiatry, to the family practice and pediatric services now provided in Joliet when the new facility is opened. Additional exam rooms will allow doctors to see more patients.

The new building also will have a kitchen and wellness center to be used for diabetes patients and to provide other programs in nutrition. It also will feature a drive-thru pharmacy, Windel said.

Aurora-based VNA serves about 75,000 clients with other facilities in Aurora, Bensenville, Carol Stream, Elgin and Wheaton.