AUSTIN — The West Side has a new nonprofit health center that will include treatment for substance use disorder and other issues to address gaps in health care disparities.
Thresholds Health, 5801 W. Corcoran Place, is an independent community health center providing free full-service health care regardless of insurance status. It will serve new and existing Thresholds clients in Austin, leaders said. The health care center also has providers and medical staff who are fluent in Spanish.
Thresholds is hosting its grand opening April 11, but the facility is running and accepting patients.
Services offered include adult and pediatric primary care, mental health services, substance use treatment, family planning and reproductive health, prenatal care and nutrition, sports physicals and immunization.
Thresholds founder and CEO Edward Murphy and board member Jermaine Harris said the neighborhood needs a facility like this and they hope it will be an asset to Austin residents’ health.
“Having access to this care and being a one-stop shop is very important and valuable when we think of the most vulnerable people in the community,” Harris said.
The goal now is to learn neighbors’ biggest concerns about health care, whether it’s a need for dermatologists or doctors specializing in heart disease or hypertension, Murphy said.
“We need to learn how to ingrain ourselves in the community, and we need to figure out how and what the community needs,” Murphy said.
Harris, who grew up in Austin, is a Police Department lieutenant in the Narcotics Arrest Diversion Program, which prioritizes mental health and medically supported recovery. Harris sought to become part of Thresholds to address root causes of crime and improve community wellness, he said.
“The more we’re aware of services in our community, it becomes an amazing referral point,” Harris said. “We’re educating and training our first responders to let them know this facility exists and they can refer them to this facility.”
Establishing trust in the community is important for the success of Thresholds Health, since Black people may be wary of law enforcement and health care providers because of systemic discrimination, Harris said.
Black people are less likely to receive mental health treatment than white people, research shows. A Pew Research Center study showed 47 percent of Black people surveyed say hospitals do not prioritize their wellbeing.
Black people in Chicago live an estimated 9.2 fewer years than non-Black people. The West Side has suffered from lack of treatment for diabetes-related issues, homicides, HIV and opioids.
“As a profession, I do my job for a certain amount of time, but the majority of my time is spent at home and in my Black skin,” Harris said. “The better we are at connecting with other people, the more we understand. It’s hard to go up to someone and offer them something if you don’t know them.”
Thresholds is one of the oldest and largest providers of recovery services for persons with mental illnesses and substance use disorders in the state. A facility in North Center received federal funding to renovate last year.
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