Health and Fitness

Mayor Emanuel Announces IlliniCare Health to Add 300 Jobs in Chicago


Company has Added over 500 Jobs in Chicago in Three Years; Chicago’s Healthcare Economy has Grown by Over 18,000 Jobs Since 2011

CHICAGO–(ENEWSPF)–November 21, 2014.  Mayor Rahm Emanuel and IlliniCare Health CEO Jeff Joy announced today that IlliniCare will add an additional 300 jobs in Chicago in a new office and introduce a pilot neighborhood community hub facility to better serve their health plan members in neighborhoods across Chicago. Today’s announcement took place at the first community hub located at 3954 West Cermak Road in Chicago’s Lawndale neighborhood.

“IlliniCare’s decision to grow in Chicago is a reflection of what is happening in Chicago’s overall healthcare economy – with new innovations in technology, the expansion of affordable care and increased funding coming into the City, more and more, companies are looking to Chicago to hire from the diverse and deep pool of talent available here,” said Mayor Emanuel.

By the end of 2015, IlliniCare has projected its internal team in Chicago to grow from 150 employees to over 500. As a result of the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid expansion, IlliniCare has grown exponentially and has led to hundreds of jobs in Chicago for a range of service providers from management positions to nurses and social workers, as well as entry-level member services and support positions.

”We are excited to be setting down roots in Chicago. The city presents fantastic opportunities to pursue our mission – transforming the health of the community, one person at a time. With a diverse workforce base and such great neighborhoods and community partners, Chicago offers us an unprecedented opportunity to succeed,” said Jeff Joy, IlliniCare Health President and CEO.

To accommodate its growth, IlliniCare is moving to a larger office space at 77 W. Wacker Dr. in the Loop. In addition, IlliniCare is piloting its new neighborhood concept with the hopes of creating a presence in the communities they serve. This first location in the City’s Lawndale neighborhood will serve as a community hub where residents can get access to the information and services that will enable them to live healthier lives.

In late 2013, IlliniCare was selected by the Cook County Health and Hospital System to provide third party administrative services for their CountyCare program, serving approximately 100,000 newly-eligible Medicaid members. With the State’s move to expand Medicaid managed care throughout the Chicago region, and the CountyCare contract, IlliniCare was outgrowing its Westmont office space and discussions began on where to locate their rapidly expanding operations.

Their decision to move to Chicago was twofold — the company wanted to have a significant footprint on-site with the majority of its customers, but more importantly, in Chicago IlliniCare has access to the depth of talent that the company needed to keep pace with its expansion. Chicago provides a large pool of both clinical, management, and skilled employees that the company is looking for.

IlliniCare is the latest in a number of healthcare companies to expand in Chicago. Since 2011, over 18,000 new jobs have been added to the City’s healthcare economy including 340 jobs at Allscripts; GoHealth which currently employs 1,000 people in Chicago; Valence Health which, in August, announced that they are hiring 500 new jobs; and hundreds of jobs at Merge Healthcare and Connected Health. In addition, this week, MATTER, the health care-technology incubator being created at the Merchandise Mart, announced it has raised $4.4 million in private funding from backers including AbbVie, Astellas Pharma US, Horizon Pharma, Marathon Pharmaceuticals and Takeda Pharmaceuticals to grow the next generation of health IT companies in Chicago.

 

Source: cityofchicago.org


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