黑料门

With second medical-legal partnership, 黑料门continues breaking down barriers to health

A client referred to 黑料门University Chicago鈥檚 new Maywood Medical-Legal Partnership (MLP) in February had an array of interlocking issues threatening his health. The man, who has physical disabilities, hadn鈥檛 had running water in his home for five years. His other utilities were on the verge of being shut off. Although he owned his home, he couldn鈥檛 afford his property taxes and was in danger of losing his residence.

鈥淥ur medical partners couldn鈥檛 fix all of this,鈥� says Maya Watson, LLM, director of the Maywood MLP. 鈥淲e were able to advise him on ways to address his delinquent property taxes and access funds to have his water turned on and make his other utilities current,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t took our whole team to assist him with the various issues he faced.鈥�

Loyola鈥檚 second MLP takes off

The MLP in Maywood, Illinois, builds on the success of the School of Law鈥檚 Health Justice Project (HJP), an MLP that supports underserved clients and provides hands-on experience to 黑料门law students. With referrals from Legal Aid Chicago, the HJP assists patients of the Erie Family Health Centers on Chicago鈥檚 Near West and North sides and in the northern suburbs.

Many residents of Chicago鈥檚 West Side and western suburbs also face a wide variety of health-harming legal needs and systemic barriers to health鈥攕o this year the Health Justice Project extended its reach by creating the Maywood MLP, an interdisciplinary partnership between the HJP, , and Loyola鈥檚 .

鈥淗ealth outcomes can be impacted more by things happening outside the hospital or clinic than inside it,鈥� says  MD, 黑料门associate professor of family medicine and director of the Stritch School of Medicine鈥檚 Center for Community and Global Health. In her 15 years as a primary care physician, 鈥渋t became clear to me that we needed to work with other disciplines,鈥� she says. 鈥淪o many of our patients need legal advocates to change their social and economic context.鈥�

Blair, the MLP鈥檚 medical champion, continues, 鈥淚n primary care, we see the patient鈥檚 big picture and make referrals if there鈥檚 medical expertise needed in cardiology, neurology, or another area. That鈥檚 the same thing we鈥檙e doing with the Maywood MLP. As health care providers, we do what we know we can to facilitate a healthy outcome, but we turn to our partners for help in other arenas that are crucial to our patients getting better.鈥�

The MLP in Maywood builds on the success of the School of Law鈥檚 Health Justice Project (HJP), an MLP that supports underserved clients and provides hands-on experience to 黑料门law students.

Serving a community with distinct health issues

Most referrals to the Maywood MLP come from the 黑料门Center for Health in Maywood, whose population is predominantly African American. The MLP also serves patients of the 黑料门Center for Health in Elmwood Park; Gottlieb Memorial Hospital in Melrose Park; MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn; and the School-Based Health Center at Proviso East High School in Maywood.

Watson and her team work on many of the same issues as those addressed by the Health Justice Project: public benefits, disability, education, housing, and family law, but Maywood MLP鈥檚 clients also face some distinct challenges.

鈥淔or instance, water pricing in Maywood is a big issue,鈥� Watson says. 鈥淚n fall 2020, water shutoff notices were sent to about 10 percent of the town鈥檚 population. That was appalling to us, because outside of water being part of people鈥檚 daily needs, we were in the midst of a global pandemic and needed to maintain basic levels of sanitation.鈥�

Maywood and nearby suburbs also were hit particularly hard by COVID-19, which has disproportionately affected communities of color and low-income individuals. The Health Justice Project has been an active participant in the COVID Equity Response Collaborative: 黑料门(CERCL), an interdisciplinary team of law, public health, medicine, nursing, and social work students and professionals who have worked to reduce the harm from COVID to at-risk populations in Maywood and surrounding communities in nearby western suburbs of Chicago. CERCL鈥檚 activities have included testing, contact tracing, and providing support to quarantined individuals and those whose employers are not minimizing risk to their employees.