CHICAGO – Mayor Brandon Johnson joined Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) Commissioner Olusimbo ‘Simbo’ Ige, MD MPH, elected officials and community leaders today for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the reopening of the previously closed Roseland Mental Health Clinic. Renamed the Roseland Health Hub, the CDPH-operated clinic at 200 E. 115th St. will offer no-cost mental health and sexual health services to Chicago residents regardless of insurance or immigration status. 

“Today’s reopening of the Roseland Clinic and expansion of the CARE program marks a turning point for mental health care in Chicago,” said Mayor Brandon Johnson. “The dismantling of our city’s mental health infrastructure forced emergency rooms and jails to become de facto treatment centers, failing both patients and communities. My administration is taking decisive action through our investments to ensure every Chicagoan has access to the critical care they need regardless of their neighborhood or ability to pay. Together, we will continue to choose treatment over trauma and rebuild a healthcare system that truly serves all our residents.” 

In addition, City leaders announced the expansion of the Crisis Assistance Response and Engagement (CARE) program, which provides emergency response via 9-1-1 dispatch to people experiencing a mental health crisis. 

With this expansion, CARE is also launching a Citywide Special Cases team with the ability to support individuals experiencing a mental health emergency in all Chicago communities. This citywide team will operate outside of the traditional 9-1-1 dispatch system, based on requests made directly to CDPH by emailing careprogram@cityofchicago.org. 

“This program is critical to providing appropriate professional care to people when they are experiencing a mental health emergency,” said CDPH Commissioner Olusimbo ‘Simbo’ Ige, MD, MPH. “Along with expanding mental health services, crisis response from trained clinicians will ensure that residents experiencing a mental health challenge can receive the immediate care they need from mental health professionals as well as connection to resources to address their unmet health and social needs.” 

Roseland Health Hub 

The Roseland Health Hub will offer a range of mental health services for residents focused on addressing emotional, traumatic and behavioral challenges, including individual and family therapy. It will also offer sexual health services, including testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, as well as mpox vaccinations and Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to prevent HIV infection.  

In addition, individuals seeking psychiatric medication management can now walk into any CDPH Mental Health Center, including Roseland, and be directly connected with healthcare providers who can help them manage their medications. Available to residents ages 6 and older, regardless of their ability to pay, the program ensures that all individuals can access professional services for the prescription and management of medication to treat mental health conditions. 

The reopening of the Roseland clinic was one aspect of the People’s Vision for Mental and Behavioral Health, a report issued in May 2024 by the Mental Health System Expansion Working Group.  

For more information or to make an appointment, visit the Roseland Health Hub web page or call (312) 747-1020. 

CARE Expansion 

CARE was initially piloted with behavioral health clinicians from the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) alongside paramedics from the Chicago Fire Department (CFD) and Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) trained officers from the Chicago Police Department (CPD) before transitioning fully to CDPH in October 2024.  

The new staffing model involves CDPH behavioral health clinicians and CDPH emergency medical technicians (EMTs) responding to 9-1-1 calls identified by dispatchers as having a mental health component. To accommodate this transition to a public health model and the expansion to additional communities, CDPH has hired 19 new full-time employees, including mental health clinicians and EMTs.  

When the CARE team responds to an individual in crisis they offer de-escalation, mental health assessment, referrals to community services and transport to community-based destinations as appropriate. The CARE team conducts follow up at one, seven and 30 days with all individuals that they encounter. 

To learn more about CARE, please visit the webpage here.  

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