PHIMC was founded in 1994 by Dr. Patrick Lenihan and the Commissioner of Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) Sister Sheila Lyne. Judith Johns served as the organization’s first Executive Director. Originally named Chicago Center for Health Systems Development, Inc., the organization was incubated at CDPH to support program implementation.
In 2006, PHIMC became a fully independent organization and received recognition as a public health institute in 2007, becoming one of the 44 members of the National Network of Public Health Institutes.
With programming that now serves communities across the state of Illinois, PHIMC has a proven track record with the following:
- Wellness policy development and implementation
- Community-based organization partnerships and network development
- Access to healthcare and health systems performance
- HIV/AIDS prevention and service coordination
- Oral cancer prevention research
- Emergency preparedness planning for bioterrorism and pandemic influenza
- Research and policy development
- Database development
- Community service and workforce development
- Community assessment research to inform public health infrastructure development
