New Woodlawn healthcare center to open later this summer

A new healthcare center is coming to Chicago’s South Side.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot was on hand Friday for a ribbon cutting ceremony of the Friend Health center in Woodlawn.

The $43 million health center will have an array of physical and mental health care options.

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City leaders touted it as a one-stop shop for preventive and primary care. It is expected to serve around 35,000 patients annually.

Mayor Lightfoot says the biggest goal with this new health center is to change the troubling South Side life expectancy statistics.

"There should never be a time in one of the wealthiest cities in the world where the life expectancy of Black people in our city is 10 years less — 10 years less! — than any other demographic," Lightfoot said.

The Friend Health center in Woodlawn is located on 62nd and Cottage Grove. It will open to the public later this summer.