The Cook County Health & Hospitals System today announced the opening of Oak Forest Health Center (OFHC), where new radiology and laboratory services will be offered. The nearly $6 million transformation will allow the county to provide CT scans, ultrasounds and mammogram screenings at the regional outpatient center.

Officials also announced that the OFHC Immediate Care Center (ICC) is again operating 24 hours.

“These improvements follow through on our commitment to provide Southland residents with high quality health care that is accessible and close to home,” Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said. “Residents will have better access to primary care and better coordinated specialty care at the Oak Forest Health Center. This is just one of the ways we are modernizing the county’s health and hospital system.”

Last year, patient visits at Oak Forest Health Center topped 100,000 while visits to the ICC exceeded 16,000 visits for adults needing non-emergency care. With the additional services available, including gynecology, pulmonary, cardiology, podiatry and optometry, the Cook County Health & Hospital System (CCH) anticipates patient visits will continue to grow.

“The health care model in this country is shifting to a focus on prevention and out-patient services,” said Dr. Ram Raju, CEO, CCH. “OFHC is uniquely positioned to provide these services and meet the needs of our current and future patients.”

The renovated regional outpatient center houses a new diagnostic center that includes a modern laboratory with six radiology suites.

The new radiology department is digital and filmless with a picture archiving communications system (PACS). PACS electronically connects the health center to the rest of the health system, which allows patients to seamlessly move through the system for more specialized care or additional consultation is required.

Conveniently located in the same facility are a primary care center, the Immediate Care Center and a specialty care center for patients to get a full range of services including nephrology, gastroenterology, infectious disease and neurology services. Pharmacy and rehabilitation services also are available on site.