Advocate Health Care advances health and wellness initiatives in Chicago

Advocate Health Care is building a $300 million, state-of-the-art community hospital at the former U.S. Steel South Works in Chicago. The new hospital will replace the more than 115-year-old Advocate Trinity Hospital.

The new hospital project is part of Advocate’s $1 billion investment to expand access to care across Chicago’s South Side. Efforts include new Neighborhood Care Sites, expanded outpatient services and new workforce development initiatives.

When completed, the new hospital will include:

• A 52-bed facility with medical-surgical, ICU, observation and dialysis beds
• A modern emergency department with 16 treatment bays
• Advanced diagnostic imaging and testing
• A cardiac catheterization lab and robotic surgical capabilities
• Technology to connect with specialty physicians.

Separately, Advocate Health Care is investing an additional $200 million in hospital and outpatient programs and services, expanding management of chronic disease and social factors that affect health in Chicago, as well as providing another $25 million over three years on workforce development and hiring.

Another core area of development is in community outpatient care, where Advocate Health Care is investing $500 million. An expanded Imani Village outpatient clinic will add Immediate Care with more doctors, more services, more appointments and shorter wait times. Advocate Health Care is also planning 10 new Neighborhood Care sites plus a mobile primary care unit.

Advocate Health Care is part of Advocate Health, the third-largest nonprofit health system in the United States. In 2018, Advocate Health Care merged with Aurora Health Care of Wisconsin to form Advocate Aurora Health. In 2022, Advocate Aurora Health and Atrium Health combined to create Advocate Health.

In the Carolinas, Georgia and Alabama, the health system provides care through Atrium Health; in Wisconsin and Michigan, care is provided through Aurora Health Care. Wake Forest University School of Medicine is also part of Advocate Health Care.

Community benefit investment

Across Illinois, Advocate Health Care invested $1.57 billion in community benefit initiatives in 2025, which focused on providing health and wellness and improving affordability of care.

As part of this effort, Advocate Health Care provides free and discounted care for patients with limited financial resources, as well as delivering charitable care and services and helping patients who are covered by Medicare and Medicaid.

The hospital system provides full financial assistance to patients with incomes at or below 300% of the federal poverty level and offers a 50% discount to all self-pay patients.

“For many people, better health starts with access to care, support and resources close to home,” said Dia Nichols, president of Advocate Health Care, in a recent news release. “This investment helps us expand access across Illinois, connect people to the right care and support the needs that affect health every day. It reflects our commitment to showing up for our communities in ways that help people get and stay well.”