Aurora-based VNA Health Care decided to celebrate a special anniversary for the group with a party for guests in Aurora Thursday evening that also focused on the organization’s future.

The event at Bureau Gravity at 56 S. LaSalle St. in Aurora was designed to celebrate 20 years of the VNA being a federally qualified health center.

According to the Heath Resources and Services Administration, these centers “are community-based health care providers that receive funds from the HRSA Health Center Program to provide primary care services in underserved areas.”

The program Thursday evening included a look at plans by VNA to serve more people across the suburban Chicago area, officials said.

Before the event, president and CEO of VNA Linnea Windel spoke about the history of the heath care service and also outlined future changes including some that are already underway.

She said the event had two purposes.

“First, it’s to celebrate VNA’s 20 years as a community health center,” she said. “We were founded in 1918 so we have over a 100-year history, but we became a federally qualified health center in 2002. At the same time, we want to talk about what’s in the future and what we are working on next. Aurora is our home base and it’s where we serve the most people.”

Windel said plans for the future include working to be able to see more patients as well as increasing the space and number of facilities to do so.

“Currently we serve 75,000 (different) patients in a year and over the next six years we’re aiming to serve 100,000 – or a 25% increase,” she said. “In order to that – today we have 16 locations across suburban Chicago and we serve the most patients who live in the suburbs among the community health centers in Illinois. We’re looking to expand existing locations and add new ones.”

Plans for VNA include a Joliet location, where Windel said ground has just been broken, which “will be a 14,000-square-foot clinic to increase our capacity to serve in that community.”

“We’re going to be adding space at our Indian Avenue location in Aurora where we will do more obstetric and pediatric care,” Windel said. “We’re going to add about 8,000 square feet there onto the existing building which is currently 13,000 square feet.”

VNA also operates a school-based center inside East Aurora High School and is currently working to establish a center in West Aurora School District, with space being provided at the former Todd School.

Other plans in the Aurora area include changes at the Highland Avenue location in order to offer a day care service for older adults on the first floor.

“We’re not adding square feet but changing the use to include an adult day care facility,” Windel said.

VNA also operates clinics in Elgin, and plans include an expansion of the clinic on Villa Street.

Cost projections, Windel said, include nearly $7 million for the Joliet facility, along with the Indian Avenue expansion in Aurora at more than $6 million “with Elgin, later down the road, at a similar amount.”

Funds, she said, include “some federal support of the Joliet project, and some pending requests for additional funding, as well as financing.”

“We anticipate a similar approach for the other facilities and we will be launching a capital campaign soon,” she said about the future projects.

David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.