Judy Lamelza
Special to Chicago Construction News
Crusader Community Health held a ground breaking ceremony and construction is underway on a new clinic at the northeast corner of Alpine and Linden Roads in Rockford. The 28,390-sq. ft. structure is designed to expand healthcare access to the city’s south side while creating a valuable opportunity for skilled trades and construction professionals in the region.
The $12.7 million project is scheduled to be completed by summer 2026. Once operational, it will be Crusader’s sixth full-service clinic, joining three additional school-based health centers. With patient visits already topping 245,000 in 2024—up from 59,000 patients in 2022 to over 64,000 in 2024—this new facility will help meet rising healthcare demand in the Rockford area and surrounding rural communities.
The Rock River Current reports that local firms have been selected to lead the project including Schmeling Construction Co., a Rockford-based company with five generations of experience, will manage the build. Hagney Architects, also based in Rockford, is responsible for the facility’s design, modeled after the organization’s West State Street clinic.
A notable feature of the new facility is its dedicated behavioral health component. This expansion has been made possible by a $490,000 investment from the Winnebago County mental health sales tax.
Crusader officials say the goal is to further integrate behavioral health into its overall medical care model, reinforcing the importance of treating mental and physical health together. The dedicated rooms and staffing expansion will help meet this growing need.
The groundbreaking ceremony—featuring gold-painted shovels—marked the culmination of more than two years of planning. Attendees included Mayor Tom McNamara, Winnebago County Board Chairman Joe Chiarelli, project staff, construction teams, and local supporters.
“If you look at the map and you plot where primary care is provided in the city, you’ll find that there’s nothing really south of the Broadway/Newburg area,” said Sam Miller, president and CEO at Crusader Community Health. “This is a part of the community that is really in need of convenient access and primary care.
“Not only do we hope it’s going to serve south Rockford, but the surrounding rural areas.”
Construction is expected to move forward immediately, with an anticipated opening date of July 1, 2026. Once open, the clinic will ease patient volumes at other Crusader locations and improve healthcare access throughout the region.
