Friday, May 15, 2015
Special to suffredin.org
by Community Counseling Centers of Chicago (C4)

The Community Counseling Centers of Chicago (C4) will remain open. C4

today announced an agreement with CountyCare, the Medicaid health plan sponsored by

the Cook County Health & Hospitals System (CCHHS). Under the agreement, C4 will

provide the full spectrum of behavioral health services to CountyCare members,

particularly to its recently expanded populations that include mainly children and adults

with dependents.

In light of the new agreement, C4 will remain open and continue to provide services both

to the new CountyCare population served under the agreement, as well as to its current

consumers. “This comes at a critical time for our consumers and our employees. The

agreement provides C4 the opportunity to serve an expanded patient base through

CountyCare. It also provides the stability we need to serve our current consumers, as well

as continuing to be able to support our dedicated employees. We are immensely grateful

to the Cook County Health & Hospitals System for their confidence in our team, our

model and our services,” said Eileen Durkin, CEO, C4.

CountyCare started in 2013 as a health plan for adults newly eligible for Medicaid under

the Affordable Care Act. CountyCare recently expanded to include traditional Medicaid

populations such as children, adults with dependents and seniors and persons with

disabilities. CountyCare’s current enrollment exceeds 180,000 and includes more than

90,000 family health plan members and seniors and persons with disabilities living in

Cook County.

“We have built the second largest Medicaid health plan in Cook County in a very short

period of time and we have to build a network of providers commensurate with that

growth. Over the coming months, C4’s expertise will assist in expanding behavioral

health capacity in the health plan and fits neatly with the health plan’s strategy to provide

increased and innovative behavioral health solutions. The C4 model is widely respected

and something we hope to replicate throughout the County to serve all CountyCare

members and ultimately all of our patients,” said John Jay Shannon, MD, CEO, Cook

County Health & Hospitals System.

C4 is a community based organization that has served the Chicago community since

1972. The center was founded to help people released from psychiatric hospitals into

Edgewater and Uptown. Over the years it expanded and is currently operating from four

main locations, and serves around 10,000 consumers annually, including adults, children,

and families.