Howard Brown Health plans to close two of its 10 Chicago clinics to address ongoing budget woes, the organization announced Monday.
Howard Brown plans to shutter its Diversey clinic at 2800 N. Sheridan Road on Aug. 31, and its Thresholds South clinic at 734 W. 47th St. on Sept. 30. The organization decided to close the clinics following an expected $6.6 million budget shortfall this fiscal year; because of the departure of the clinics’ sole providers; and because the clinics’ leases are up, according to Howard Brown.
“These closures mark a business decision that will ensure our ability to serve patients with quality care for the next 50 years,” Dr. Robin Gay, interim president and CEO of Howard Brown, said in a news release.
Howard Brown will work to ensure that the clinics’ patients continue to receive care, including at other Howard Brown clinics within 15 minutes of the ones that are closing, Howard Brown said in the release.
The “vast majority” of staff members at the clinics will be reassigned to other Howard Brown sites “wherever positions are available,” Howard Brown said. There are 24 staff members at the two clinics, said a Howard Brown spokesperson.
The Illinois Nurses Association, which represents workers at Howard Brown, criticized the decision Monday to close the clinics. Tristan Bock-Hughes, a senior lead organizer at the union, called the announcement “sudden” in a statement and expressed concern that Howard Brown had not yet promised, as of early Monday afternoon, to avoid layoffs.
“We just ratified a contract that requires bargaining over the impacts of such a change and are dismayed that Howard Brown’s communication did not mention their requirement or intention to negotiate,” Bock-Hughes said in the statement. Howard Brown and non-nurse workers represented by the Illinois Nurses Association recently reached their first contract agreement.
Tiffany Foster-Mitchell, lead medical assistant at the Thresholds South clinic, said in a statement: “This change in plans will have a major negative impact on the psychiatric patients who benefit greatly from the integration with the Thresholds social services sharing the same building. Thresholds patients are the most vulnerable population Howard Brown serves, often people facing homelessness and experiencing severe mental illness.”
The closures follow a challenging couple of years at Howard Brown, which is a federally qualified health center, meaning it receives federal dollars to help patients with low incomes. Howard Brown specializes in caring for patients who are LGBTQ+ and people living with HIV.
Non-nurse workers represented by the Illinois Nurses Association went on strike twice last year, in January and November. The first strike came after more than 60 employees were laid off, as Howard Brown said it faced a potential $12 million shortfall. At the time, Howard Brown blamed the anticipated shortfall on changes to a federal drug discount program and the end of federal COVID-19 relief dollars.
In July, a regional office of the National Labor Relations Board found merit to allegations that Howard Brown engaged in unfair labor practices, after complaints from the union. Howard Brown then offered to reinstate the laid-off workers, and 25 agreed to return. A full settlement has not yet been reached. The NLRB issued a complaint against Howard Brown in March, and a hearing before an administrative law judge has been set for October.
