Humboldt Park Health has submitted a zoning application for a three-story, 17,060-square-foot urgent care center at 1140 N. California Ave., a site that would replace a one-story commercial structure and an adjacent parking lot just south of West Division Street near the hospital's main campus. The building would rise 45 feet and bring exam rooms, a behavioral health floor, and leasable medical office space to a lot once home to Oasis Laundromat.
The proposal, first detailed by Chicago YIMBY, outlines a building designed by Chicago firm JGMA with a blue and light-green color palette, multi-color glass on its primary sides, and inset areas finished with standard glass. The ground floor would house a reception and waiting room, ten exam rooms, and a nurse station. The second floor is set aside entirely for a behavioral health center featuring six therapy rooms along with large and small group rooms, plus a conference room. A smaller third floor, roughly 5,000 square feet, would be available for lease to another health organization. Notably absent from the plans is any on-site parking, according to the same report.
Property records reviewed by Zillow show Humboldt Park Health acquired the 0.14-acre lot for $650,000 in March 2024. No construction timeline or project budget has been announced, per the YIMBY report.
Part of a Larger Campus Push
The urgent care proposal builds on a wave of recent investment by the safety-net hospital. In January 2025, Humboldt Park Health opened a $30 million, 45,000-square-foot health and wellness center at 2933 W. Division St., complete with physical therapy services, a fitness center, and an indoor track — a project Hoodline covered when it opened. JGMA also designed that facility, giving the two buildings a matching exterior palette that signals a deliberate visual identity taking shape across the campus.
The health system, founded in 1894, operated for 125 years as Norwegian American Hospital before rebranding to Humboldt Park Health in January 2021, a change made to better reflect its neighborhood identity and reaffirm its focus on health equity, according to ABC7 Chicago. The 200-bed acute care hospital has continued expanding its specialty offerings since then, partnering with City of Hope Cancer Center Chicago in January 2026 to expand oncology care and rapid diagnostic screenings on the West Side.
A Neighborhood With Stark Health Gaps
The push for more outpatient and behavioral health capacity comes against a backdrop of significant local health disparities. Community health assessment data from the Sinai Urban Health Institute found that nearly half of adult residents in Humboldt Park live with obesity, alongside diabetes and depression rates that significantly exceed national averages, as Hoodline previously reported in its coverage of the wellness center opening.
Humboldt Park Health operates as a non-profit safety-net hospital with roughly 900 employees and relies on about $38 million annually from the Illinois Hospital Assessment Program to support its emergency and specialized care operations, according to the hospital's Wikipedia entry. The hospital relies on state funding to support its emergency and specialized care operations.
Leadership Behind the Expansion
Leadership Behind the Expansion Hoodline identified Diego Sanchez as Humboldt Park Health's CEO in January 2025. The campus's long-term plans extend beyond clinical buildings — Humboldt Park Health has also outlined plans to develop up to 100 units of affordable housing in the neighborhood, an effort aimed at protecting residents from gentrification-driven displacement.
