Chicago's South Side residents have a 30 year life expectancy gap compared to their Northside counterparts.

>> Advocate health care is working to address that disparity with a new billion-dollar investment plan that includes replacing Trinity Hospital with a new facility.

Stakeholders say the goal is to improve the health and well-being of residents by focusing on prevention, disease management and increasing access to care.

Joining us now are Michelle Blakely, president of Advocate Trinity and advocates south suburban hospitals.

So Jones, chief health and well-being officer for the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago and 7th Ward Alderman Greg Mitchell representing communities like South Shore, South Chicago Avalon Park and Calumet Heights.

Welcome all of you.

Thanks for joining And I think congrats on what sounds like a big, very big announcement that you will need yesterday.

Michelle Blakely, how will this investment address health disparities for South Siders?

>> I'm so happy to be able to talk about this.

And so we have this product really bold vision to change how we approach health delivery and really create health and wellness as opposed to attacking just simply illness.

And so our investment, this 1 billion dollars.

I love saying one day you want is is very comprehensive in that 500 million at that will be specifically targeted around and la Torre services and access to him.

What Henri care.

We believe if we can get ahead chronic diseases and help people access health care where they live in a way that's convenient.

We will change the whole path around how healthcare looks.

200 million of that.

It's going towards chronic condition management and also the social drivers of health.

Part of what the solution is for health care is not related to what happens in the hospital at all.

It's around access to food, access to employment, access to opportunities, to exercise.

And so that's 200 million dollars of that as well attack on the Turtle Health and how we address pre and postnatal services.

So that 700 million of my billion dollars going towards very proactive strategy for health care.

And then should a patient need a hospital?

We are introducing a new state-of-the-art facility.

That's 300 million dollars of that investment to absolutely provide for that community.

A new state-of-the-art facility that is there to do things that you do in a hospital.

Should you need that access?

My hope is you don't ever need my those hospitals that that a little bit as So tell me about the YMCA and the role that it plays in this plan, I mean, this is such an inmate when when we heard that advocate was making this investment, it we couldn't have thought of him or values line organization to really accelerate our vision and our strategic transformation that's underway.

>> Which is thinking less about fitness centers are sort of this Jim and swim and more about how do we start to create facilities and community hubs that are dedicated to changing health outcomes right.

And that is a complete paradigm shift in how we think about our work and what's so exciting about this partnership is that you were just talking about this wave usually got health over here and well-being over here.

And this is the and right.

We're bringing them together and saying to people and you know what, if you're dealing with the chronic condition management or if you're trying to prevent a chronic condition, here's a place where you can find a community to build healthy habits, do it in a way that is fun and playful.

And I think what we're all sort of looking for and so that's why you know the why that is what we stand for, what we have stood for in the South side for 40 years and in Chicago for over 150 years.

But really just like an amazing Valley's only partnership that I think is is going to change health outcomes and keep people out of hospital beds in specifically the South Shore.

Ymca will be serving as the first of 10 that site.

That's science you has outside.

It will be serving as the first of 10 new community-based.

>> Helps.

All right, senators, right?

So we're calling these neighborhood care sites and it's through a partnership with like-minded organizations that our trusted partners in the community.

And so for a person who normally accesses the why and the fact that they can actually receive urgent care, visit their chronic condition management.

There.

It makes it easier for them to access services in a way that is so convenient that it's hard not to avail themselves of what we have to offer.

>> It's hyper local and it is designed to be both screening for social drivers and also providing an advanced practice provider in a virtual way.

So the new technology virtual way to receive that care.

So we believe it's an innovative approach over Mitchell, not leaving you out.

What does this investment mean for residents of the 7th Ward life?

>> So I get I'm getting a double double benefit from advocate.

Not only do we get world-class hospital, that's going to be world-class health care.

Also get 300 million dollar investment in my work.

And I'm humbled by that.

And I'm happy that I can bring that to the community.

Of what I what I anticipate happening is that this is going to spark discusses the catalyst.

This is going to spark more investment, more interest in the community and all those those negatives we can start addressing, we can attract businesses can provide goods and services to the community that they need and want I have a lot of vacant properties.

We lost home ownership.

I anticipate this catalyst is going to be white allies.

My community and those bills that we've experienced over the last 10, 15, 20 years.

We'll start to turn around.

>> So despite high rates of what we know about, you know, illnesses on the Southside high rates of hypertension, diabetes, congestive heart failure and others.

Hospital beds on the South side.

The only have a 40% utilization rate show.

Quickly, do we have a sense of why that is?

>> Well, they're probably multiple reasons for that.

Certainly one of the reasons is.

Health care is changing in general.

There's a move towards ambulatory care.

There's a move towards managing even surgeries differently.

So the link the state post, a surgical procedure used to be several days.

Now.

It's just a day or 2.

So when part health care is changing the other reason for the South side is we have older infrastructure and people are choosing health care in different ways and they're going to hospitals that are more modern that have different technology.

So when we did our community listening sessions, part of what we heard is your infrastructures old.

I'm not sure if I'm going to get the state-of-the-art care from your hospital that I would get from another hospital.

>> to be clear, so that this new updated hospital, then it is on shifting from currently a trainee, get 205.

That's gonna be a lot smaller.

52 beds.

you still feel confident that is enough to meet community needs?

Absolutely.

And let me talk a little bit about that right?

So right now people are using hospitals, particularly the emergency room for primary care.

Once we infuse the market with access to care and people can't access care in an outpatient space and we get ahead of chronic diseases and we create health and wellness.

You don't need a hospital.

>> 4, that level of care.

What you then use the hospital for us.

What we would desire.

You have an acute care episode.

You come in, you come in for an elective procedure.

You come in and your discharge, the kind of things that exactly what want to write Verrett.

We're almost at a time so in its and hopefully all the miniature back in here.

One more separate from the listening sessions that Michelle just mentioned.

The YMCA also get a comprehensive report from Southside neighbors.

Would you will find?

>> I think it's a lot of what's reflected in this, which is that we're looking for community-based care that the services really are inadequate and that we're looking for more more solutions that are community-driven and based on sort of what we're hearing.

And so I think yes, upgrading facilities, I think increasing access points to a diversity of services.

Right?

What we know across the board is that people aren't just thinking about their fitness over here.

They're thinking about fitness, mental social, all of those things connected.

And that I think was validated by everything.

We learned 5 seconds left alderman what is next, how we make sure that this all goes down at I have work to do.

I I I joked with president.

>> A lot of going somewhere joining.

We officially joined at the hip.

So everything that needs to happen on my set to make this that make this a