SINAI Urban Health Institute
SUHI Historical Timeline
2011
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awarded SUHI a $549,000 grant to develop an asthma intervention in Chicago. This grant award was partly based on the 10+ years of experience that SUHI has had in analyzing data and designing interventions to control asthma among poor, urban populations. One innovative aspect of this grant will be the employing of Community Health Workers drawn from the Public Housing Units where the interventions are taking place. SUHI will partner with the Chicago Housing Authority in this work.
2010
SUHI began 2010 planning a Celebration of its 10th Anniversary. On March 4, 2010, we gathered present and past staff together along with invited guests for a reception, dinner and guest speakers. We highlighted our Mission and Vision and celebrated our achievements in bringing health interventions to the people in the Sinai community. We thanked our funders and looked ahead to the future.
SUHI edited and published a book with Oxford University Press entitled Urban Health: Combating Disparities with Local Data. Based on our landmark Sinai Community Survey, the book provides a detailed description of how the community-focused collection and analysis of health data served as an impetus for improved well-being through targeted interventions in the survey communities. Urban Health is an invaluable resource for health researchers, community groups, students, physicians and professionals and is being sought as a textbook for classes at Schools of Public Health and other University venues.
On June 3, 2010, SUHI’s Asthma Project, “Healthy Home, Healthy Child”, was recognized for outstanding leadership in asthma care by the Environmental Protection Agency. On July 24, 2010, the American Hospital Association presented the “Healthy Home, Healthy Child” program the NOVA Award for efforts to educate families and reduce the impact of pediatric asthma on the west side of Chicago.
Also in 2010, SUHI published the article, “Black-White Health Disparities in the United States and Chicago: A 15-Year Progress Analysis,” in the American Journal of Public Health.
2009
SUHI, in partnership with Rush University Medical Center, received two separate grants from the National Institutes of Health, totaling over $3 million. The funds are being used to implement diabetes interventions in the Chicago Community Areas of North Lawndale and Humboldt Park where diabetes mortality and morbidity rates are extremely high.
2008
SUHI received a $1.5 million grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to implement a comprehensive intervention to address the high rates of poorly controlled asthma among children in Chicago. The grant, entitled “Healthy Home Healthy Child,” delivered asthma education in the home tailored to the specific needs of the individual families and also addressed the disproportionate presence of asthma triggers in the home environment. Partners in this endeavor included the Chicago Asthma Consortium, Health & Disability Advocates, the Metropolitan Tenant’s Organization and the Sinai Community Institute.
2007
In March, 2007 the Sinai Urban Health Institute collaborated with others to hold the Chicago Breast Cancer Summit: A Call to Action to discuss the Black:White disparity in breast cancer mortality amongst women in Chicago. Three action groups have been formed and are anticipated to provide recommendations to eliminate the Black:White breast cancer mortality disparity in Chicago.
2006
SUHI published a research study and held a press conference that highlighted the extraordinary high rate of diabetes in Chicagoland’s Humboldt Park neighborhood. The study and press conference lead to the formation of a Diabetes Task Force, which was charged with developing recommendations to address this urgent public health issue.
In October, 2006 the Institute held a press conference highlighting the Black:White disparity in breast cancer mortality amongst women in Chicago. The Institute also published an article regarding these findings in Cancer Causes & Control.
2005
In May, 2005 SUHI held a press conference to release findings regarding smoking in six Chicago community areas. The Institute also released Survey Report II based on additional results from the surveys of six Chicago community areas.
2004
In January, 2004 SUHI released Survey Report I based on results from the surveys of six Chicago community areas. The Institute also published an article titled, Comparison of Health Status Indicators in Chicago: Are Black-White Disparities Worsening?, in the American Journal of Public Health, which compared Chicago trends in Black-White health disparities to that of the Nation.
2003
SUHI was awarded its first Federal grant from HRSA, the Health Research Services Administration, to facilitate the development of four primary care training initiatives for the Internal Medicine Residency Program at Mount Sinai Hospital and Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science. The modules included evidence-based preventive care practices, cultural competency studies, health disparities research and geriatric medicine training.
2002
With the guidance of community groups, SUHI designed and completed the comprehensive population health survey, interviewing about 1699 adults and 811 children in six diverse Chicago community areas.
2001
The Sinai Health System received a two-year grant from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for a project entitled, “Catalyzing Public Policy to Improving Community Health”. The purpose of this project is to implement a comprehensive health survey in several Chicago communities. The Institute also published a paper titled, Evaluating Chicago's Success in Reaching the Healthy People 2000 Goal of Reducing Health Disparities in Public Health Reports.
2000
The Sinai Urban Health Institute (SUHI) is founded in March 2000 with the belief that the Sinai Health System can best pursue its goals if activities are based upon data-driven evidence. SUHI developed health profiles for the North Lawndale and South Lawndale community areas in Chicago, which are two community areas that the Sinai Health System serves.