Esperanza/JGMA Health Centers
Esperanza/JGMA Health Centers
+ 18
Text description provided by the architects. Esperanza Health Centers is a community health system whose mission is to promote healthy lifestyles and improve health status through the provision of high quality health care and wellness services. Emphasize prevention and education provided by bilingual, culturally diverse staff who are dedicated to overcoming barriers faced by underserved communities.
Esperanza, which means hope in Spanish, lives up to its name. Esperanza envisions a world where community residents will be served regardless of immigration status, race/ethnicity, income, or insurance, and can achieve their full potential through optimal health. Therefore, this new facility materializes the client’s mission and vision.
Understanding that health is a combination of physical, mental and spiritual balance, the new Esperanza Health Center focuses on creating spaces for healing and wholeness. It is the building this community needs to heal, thrive and feel supported. JGMA has designed a fully accessible building that is a contemporary community health center, providing essential services that are currently lacking in this area of southwest Chicago.
By partnering with local specialty care and community organizations, the new facility will house comprehensive healthcare and use forward-thinking design to attract and unite the surrounding community. Transforming the industrial wasteland from an inflexible concrete slab into a new clinic with outdoor spaces for walking and community garden and paved parking for vehicles. Community interaction is first and foremost in the new building. The ground floor has been designed to release the typical interior and exterior definitions.
Blur the lines between the public square and the lobby and the site. The colorful plaza both attracts the community and directs visitors to and through their ultimate destinations. This flowing, open plan of the hall, right at the most prominent corner of the site, will become the central and dynamic core of the installation.
