City Colleges of Chicago, the University of Chicago and its medical center, and Mayor Brandon Johnson recently revealed a plan to expand healthcare programs and facilities on the South Side that will increase access to affordable higher education, clinical experiences, and employment opportunities in growing healthcare fields.
With this announcement, City Colleges will bring a full nursing pathway to Kennedy-King College in Englewood, which will include an associate degree in nursing and a licensed practical nursing program operated by Malcolm X College at Kennedy-King, and a basic nursing assistant program and general education courses operated by Kennedy-King.
In addition, an expanded partnership between the University of Chicago, UChicago Medicine, and City Colleges/Malcolm X College will see the construction of two new facilities in Washington Park: UChicago Medicine Clinical Labs, owned and operated by UChicago Medicine, and the Malcolm X College Learning Center, owned and operated by City Colleges and including the first clinical lab tech program in Chicago.
UChicago Medicine plans to build a new facility that consolidates its existing clinical labs, modernizes their operations, and maximizes lab test efficiency to ensure top-level care. The facility would bring 550 jobs — including approximately 200 new positions — to Washington Park, provide clinical rotations for students, and help the hospital add critical lab capacity to meet the expanded diagnostic needs of a new cancer pavilion, expected to open in 2027.
The Malcolm X College Learning Center in Washington Park will establish the first clinical lab technician program in Chicago, with the opportunity to expand Malcolm X programming for other high-demand allied health professions. When fully operating, the Learning Center is expected to serve up to 800 students per year. The center will include classrooms, dry labs, office space, and ground-floor retail space.
The Washington Park facilities will be built on two adjacent plots of land on the north side of Garfield Boulevard between the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) Green Line track and land just east of Calumet Ave. The UChicago Medicine Clinical Labs will be built on land owned by the University of Chicago, and the Malcolm X Learning Center will be built on land currently owned by the CTA. University of Chicago and City Colleges leadership expect to break ground in 2025 and open the facilities during the 2026-27 academic year.
The connected projects would provide a pathway to careers in the health sciences for Chicago residents.
The new nursing programs at Kennedy-King College are expected to create a path for roughly 50 Basic Nursing Assistant (BNA) students by fall 2024, 50 future associate degree earners in nursing and ten Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) future degree earners in 2027, and 100 degree-seeking students per year in 2028 and thereafter. This expansion will return a full nursing pathway to Kennedy-King College.
City Colleges will partner with surrounding Chicago Public Schools high schools to create a pipeline to healthcare educational pathways, work-based learning, and careers.
The Washington Park project builds upon a formal Memorandum of Understanding established between the University of Chicago and City Colleges of Chicago in 2021 that aims to strengthen STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education and career opportunities and create a more diverse field of professionals entering the sciences.
UChicago Medicine often struggles to hire qualified candidates for its clinical lab tech positions, with positions remaining vacant longer than other healthcare roles. The scarcity of qualified candidates is even greater for South Side safety net hospitals.
“We are thrilled to expand access to City Colleges’ quality, affordable healthcare education and provide connections to in-demand healthcare careers,” said Chancellor Juan Salgado of the City Colleges of Chicago. “Working with our partners at UChicago and UChicago Medicine, together we will create new economic opportunities and support healthy communities.”
“This health care pipeline expansion builds on a successful and strong relationship between City Colleges, the University of Chicago, and UChicago Medicine that is already placing our students into upwardly mobile careers,” said Mayor Brandon Johnson. “I applaud the partnership and the investment on our great South Side that this project represents.”
“The University of Chicago is thrilled to embark on this undertaking in partnership with the City Colleges and our neighbors in Washington Park,” said University of Chicago President Paul Alivisatos. “Together, we will not only help address the immense unmet demand for health care professionals throughout the region, but through our efforts to educate, train, and employ individuals from our local communities, we are investing in the creation of a more robust service network that will elevate the collective health and wealth of us all.”
“As an academic health system, UChicago Medicine is committed to educating the next generation of healthcare workers,” said University of Chicago Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs Mark Anderson. “Our plans in Washington Park will train and empower a more diverse workforce, and also support the growing clinical needs of our medical campus. We are proud to collaborate with City Colleges, and look forward to working together to improve the lives of residents across Chicago’s South Side.”