Dr. Gloria Jackson Bacon earned a B.S. from Xavier University in New Orleans in 1958. She moved to Chicago to attend medical school at the University of Illinois School of Medicine, and graduated in 1962. While she did not initially intend to stay in Chicago for an extended period of time, the inner-city patients she saw reminded her of the people she knew growing up in Louisiana, and she was compelled to continue her practice.

In 1968, Dr. Bacon was fired from a publicly supported medical facility at the Altgeld Gardens’ Murray Homes on Chicago’s South Side for being vocal about her views on the need to improve the meager care provided there. In response, she opened the Clinic in Altgeld, Inc., a not-for-profit agency offering total health care and serving as the primary medical resource for the Altgeld Gardens area. She funded the center out of her personal savings and Medicaid reimbursement until 1991, when it began to receive federal funding as a Federally Qualified Health Center.

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In 1992, Bacon returned to singing. Singing had played an important role in Bacon’s early development. She performed in many recitals and concerts throughout her youth and college years, but the demands of practicing medicine took precedence. She has been a featured soloist at Chicago Orchestra Hall, ETA Theater and numerous churches.

The clinic has improved the health of Altgeld Gardens community residents. When Bacon first opened the clinic, the infant mortality rate was 50.2 per thousand, in 1990 this number was reduced to 9.2 per thousand.

In 2001, Bacon retired as medical director of the clinic. She returned home and continued to live in Louisiana.

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