Ground broken for new Howard Brown Health clinic on North Halsted Street, with goal of improved health care access for LGBTQ+ community

CHICAGO (CBS) — A new facility will bring greater access to health care in Chicago’s north lakefront communities.

Crews broke ground Friday at Halsted Street and Cornelia Avenue for the new Howard Brown medical clinic. The five-story facility will provide medical care, social services, and a dental clinic.

“It compels us to double down on our efforts to create affirming, empowering, and safe space for the LGBTQ+ community,” said Jared Lewis of Howard Brown Health.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois), U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Illinois), aldermen Tom Tunney (44th) and James Cappleman (46th), state Rep. Sara Feigenholtz (D-Chicago), and Howard Brown president and chief executive officer David Ernesto Munar were among those who took part in the groundbreaking.

The new site is scheduled to open next year and will replace an existing clinic a few of blocks away at 3245 N. Halsted St., which Howard Brown reports has experienced limited capacity.

The dental clinic will be the first for Howard Brown on the North Side – it currently offers dental services in Englewood on the South Side.

The new clinic will be constructed on the former site of Little Jim’s, the first gay bar in the Northalsted District, which opened in 1975 and went out of business in the summer of 2020. Other well-known businesses such as the Ram adult bookstore, the late-night dining favorite Taco & Burrito Palace, and the Pink Rhino tattoo shop were also located in the since-demolished buildings on the footprint of the new Howard Brown facility.

Howard Brown Health was founded in 1974 and is now one of the nation’s largest LGBTQ+ health care organizations.