Back in 1946, the Stickney Township Public Health District was formed to address the health needs of returning World War II veterans, an industrial workforce and the area’s growing number of working-class families.
Decades later, the health district is still filling a crucial need for vulnerable residents who cannot otherwise afford healthcare.
That access can prevent a child developing long-term health problems because parents can’t afford a doctor’s visit, or an older resident foregoing dental care needed to stave off an oral infection.
“It’s a blessing,” said Diane Viverito, Stickney Township supervisor. “Healthcare is probably the most important service people need.”
South Clinic in Burbank, the township’s largest health facility, offers free medical services for residents, free dental services for grade schoolers and people age 55 and older, along with podiatry visits for $8 and behavioral health services on a sliding scale. Vaccinations are available for low cost, too.
The health district also sends a mobile dental unit to area elementary schools.
The staff bills Medicaid, Medicare and private insurance for services, but if residents cannot pay or have no insurance, they aren’t turned away. They do need to show proof of residency.
It’s the only Illinois Department of Public Health-certified township level health department in the state, Stickney Township officials said.
Related township services are offered at the Louis S. Viverito Senior Center, in Burbank, including exercise classes, social groups and music therapy, along with entertainment, movies and craft and art classes. Older visitors can also get help with comprehensive care coordination, food and outside health resources, home-delivered meals and transportation to medical appointments, grocery stores and other sites.
Stickney Township Supervisor Diane Viverito, left, and Marci Barnes, dental director of the Stickney Township Health District gather outside the township’s dental clinic in Burbank, where they offer an array of free and low-cost medical and dental services. They are in front of the Dental Services, which is in the South Clinic in Burbank.(Janice Neumann/Daily Southtown)
Viverito, daughter and supervisor successor of Senior Center namesake Louis Viverito, who was Township Supervisor from 1973 to the spring of 2025, said residents who have moved away have said they miss the services there.
“Dad tells the story of a woman who moved to New Lenox, who called and said, ‘Why can’t I get the bus service?’” Viverito said. “He said, ‘Because you left.’”
Viverito said as more young families move into the township, she’s looking for ways to add more educational programs and art and music at the Senior Center.
Chris Grunow, recently retired township administrator and Public Health director for the Stickney Public Health District, worked there for more than three decades. He started as a therapist while he was pursuing his doctorate in psychology and eventually became the district’s mental health director. Leaving has been bittersweet, he said.
“We’re helping people, and you’re never asked to do something wrong,” Grunow, making the distinction between the district and profit-driven healthcare where patients may be turned away if they can’t pay. “I’ve always found it easier to not have business relationships with my clients,” he said. “Everyone is welcome, and that’s a fit for me,” he said.
Grunow said the township health district provides a safe haven for the underserved.
“I think everyone needs a place they can go to ask for help, be it the older adult … or family who says I need a school physical,” he said.
The Behavioral Health Clinic offers therapy for adults and couples, including those with major depressive disorders, anxiety disorders and some with schizophrenia. Each mental health specialist has a full schedule of patients.
They also do community outreach, delivering information about mental health and the department’s services to area libraries and community centers.
“We see returning people over their lives, sometimes it’s generational,” said Melinda Antoskiewicz, behavioral health director and a part-time therapist there.
Stickney Township’s department formerly had two psychiatrists available to see patients, but now psychiatric medication is prescribed by an advanced practice registered nurse specialist in mental health, who also does therapy.
“As time went on and mental health funding in general decreased, mental health services got gutted in so many ways,” Antoskiewicz said.
She oversees three full-time therapists, two who are bilingual in English and Spanish or English and Polish. “Certainly it’s unique that you would find a place you could get the amount of services here and one of these being mental health, which is so important,” she said.
Beata Strama, the district’s public health administrator, said the township’s demographics include a large Polish population as well as growing groups of people with Hispanic and Middle Eastern backgrounds.
“It really helps to have staff with various backgrounds and languages,” she said. “You need cultural sensitivity. The patients really appreciate that connection when they meet someone who speaks their language.”
Dental director Dr. Marci Barnes said all of the service’s clinics — south, north and mobile — provide essential dental care, including evaluation with x-rays, fillings, deep cleaning and extractions.
“I think our program really addresses two of the demographics that are at most risk for dental disease, K-8th graders and seniors 55 and older,” she said.
Janice Neumann is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.