Mayor Brandon Johnson broke ground on a new PrimeCare health center on Chicago's Northwest Side, part of a push by his administration to bring medical and behavioral health services directly into neighborhoods that have long gone without them. The Hermosa Health Center is being built with $5 million from the mayor's $1.25 billion Housing and Economic Development Bond, according to a transcript attached to the mayor's announcement.
“Every family deserves access to quality healthcare close to home. This investment from my administration is providing Chicago's communities the healthcare resources and services they deserve,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said on X
, tagging the Chicago Department of Planning and Development and Rep. Delia Ramirez in the post. The announcement concerned a planned neighborhood health center.
What the Center Will Offer
The Hermosa Health Center is planned as a neighborhood health center. Block Club Chicago has separately reported that the facility will include 22 exam rooms dedicated to primary care, along with behavioral health, dental and other services.
According to Block Club Chicago, PrimeCare CEO Lynn Hopkins said the project would expand access for Northwest Side patients because the organization's other locations were already at capacity. Hopkins told the outlet that demolition was planned after remediation work, with a 14-month construction period to follow and an opening expected in November 2027 — a timeline that remains a projection rather than a confirmed date.
A Long-Vacant Property's Second Life
The project traces back to a property sale reported by CRER, which announced the sale of the Hermosa site to PrimeCare for $2.2 million. The commercial real estate firm said the building had sat vacant and racked up code violations, and that deteriorating facade conditions led to a serious injury to a pedestrian in late 2024, according to the same report.
The station's report also noted that the full City Council had approved a zoning-change application from PrimeCare officials to convert the property to commercial use, clearing the way for construction. Addresses for the project have varied across official and news accounts: a City of Chicago release lists the site as 4528-38 W. Fullerton Ave., while Block Club Chicago has identified the address as 4528-4558 W. Fullerton Ave.
Part of a Broader Bond Push
The Hermosa project is one piece of the mayor's larger $1.25 billion Housing and Economic Development Bond, which the attached PrimeCareHealth transcript ties directly to the $5 million awarded for this center. City officials have framed similar investments as efforts to strengthen neighborhood institutions; in a separate post, Mayor Johnson's account on X
described another health investment as one that “expands access to essential healthcare, creates jobs, and strengthens a neighborhood institution that has served generations of West Side residents.”
For Hermosa residents, the groundbreaking marks a visible turning point for the property, after the church moved out in 2024 and the facade deteriorated. Whether the project meets its projected November 2027 opening remains to be seen, but the funding commitment and zoning approval represent the most concrete steps yet toward turning the Fullerton Avenue property into a functioning health center for the neighborhood.
