Howard Brown’s 2017 Community Impact Report Highlights Success in Addressing Stigma in Healthcare

(Chicago, IL, July 28, 2017) – Howard Brown Health today published its 2017 Community Impact Report, entitled “Breaking the Stigma,” to illustrate Howard Brown’s strategic interventions designed to minimize the adverse effects of stigma on individuals’ health.

The report builds on the structure of last year’s inaugural Community Impact Report, using infographics and text to illustrate Howard Brown’s individualized approach to healthcare. Howard Brown integrates environmental and cultural considerations into the healthcare practice, improving the lives of patients and overall public health in Chicago.

View the report at howardbrown.org/2017CommunityImpact

Highlights include:

• Howard Brown has increased the size and diversity of its patient base – the agency served 26,170 patients last year, with a 42% increase in patients who are people of color.
• Howard Brown’s HIV prevention and care model, which provides care across the HIV continuum, reached new milestones, providing 20,492 HIV screenings. Our HIV linkage-to-care and case management programs connected 94% of patients who were newly diagnosed to primary care, and 82% of patients with HIV achieved viral suppression, compared to 55% nationally.
• Howard Brown’s behavioral health team evolved its intake process so that patients receive a phone screening on the same day that they seek treatment, with 4,577 people receiving mental health services, including therapy, psychiatric care, addictions recovery support, and smoking cessation services.
• The Broadway Youth Center assisted 625 patients with primary care and 362 young people accessed drop-in programming.
• Howard Brown helps patients navigate the complicated healthcare system, helping 661 patients to enroll in Medicaid and 279 to enroll in marketplace insurance plans.

“The new Community Impact Report distills the value Howard Brown Health provides to our patients and to the public health of our community,” said Dr. Magda Houlberg, Chief Clinical Officer for Howard Brown Health. “This year we focused on stigma and discrimination as we work to eliminate these barriers to care.”

The 2017 Community Impact Report was designed by Avila Creative Inc., a Chicago design firm specializing in message-driven design. (www.avilacreativeinc.com)

Access the report online here.

Howard Brown Health is the Chicago-based community health center serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community and its allies, serving more than 26,000 people each year at seven clinical sites, including the Broadway Youth Center. Founded in in 1974, Howard Brown provides primary medical care, behavioral health services, and specialty chronic and infectious disease services.  The organization conducts community-based clinical and behavioral research and educates and advocates around issues of concern to patients.

For more information about Howard Brown, go to howardbrown.org

Media Inquiries:

Erik Roldan, Director of Communications

312.206.2167, ErikR@howardbrown.org