Neel French, MD, SC

NEEL FRENCH, MD, SC STOPPED ACCEPTING NEW PATIENTS 2/27/2023 and DR FRENCH IS RETIRING JULY 31, 2024 (this retirement date has been posted on this website since 2/28/2022)

TO MY BCBS HMO (SITE 494 AND 506) PATIENTS:

****PLEASE DISREGARD AN INAPPROPRIATELY TIMED LETTER SENT LATE FEBRUARY 2024 FROM AMITA (ARCADIA/GUIDEHEALTH) REGARDING MY RETIREMENT AND BEING SWITCHED TO ANOTHER PCP IN JULY. I HAVE BEEN ACTIVELY WORKING WITH MY BCBS HMO PATIENTS TO SMOOTHLY TRANSITION THEM TO NEW ASCENSION (AMITA) PCPs. If you do not make the PCP change yourself by e-mailing managedcaresupport@guidehealth.com you WILL be automatically switched in July by Amita, but there will be a preferred provider. There will be another letter sent out about May 1st regarding this procedure.******

WE HAVE BEEN USING AN ELECTRONIC MEDICAL RECORD (EMR) CALLED eCLINICALWORKS (ECW) since July 2023 and you may have received a portal invitation to ECW (involves utilizing the Healow app), which allows for communication with the office and Dr. French, however for important issues, PLEASE use neel@neelfrenchmd.com. Your myquest login will still allow you to see Quest lab results, but our previous Quanum portal is INACTIVE.

1) WE STOPPED ACCEPTING ANY NEW PATIENTS ON 2/27/2023. IF YOU ARE AN EXISTING PATIENT, PLEASE BE AWARE THAT IF YOU CHOOSE TO SELECT AN HMO THAT BECOMES EFFECTIVE AFTER 3/1/2023, AND REQUIRES CHOOSING A NEW PCP, YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO CONTINUE AT OUR PRACTICE AFTER THAT DATE, SINCE WE WILL BE "CLOSED" TO "NEW" PATIENTS.

2) Dr French is not selling the practice, since virtually no one is in solo, private practice anymore. There will not be a provider at his current location after JULY 31, 2024 and you will have to find a new provider for your medical care. MANY OF OUR PATIENTS HAVE ALREADY MADE APPOINTMENTS FOR THEIR 1ST VISIT WITH A NEW DOCTOR IN 2023 AND 2024. THIS IS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT FOR PATIENTS WHO TAKE MULTIPLE MEDICATIONS. HMO PATIENTS (BLUE ADVANTAGE/PRECISION/FOCUSCARE, HMO ILLNIOIS, CIGNA CONNECT, HUMANA HMO, BC MEDICARE ADVANTAGE HMO, BLUE CROSS COMMUNITY MEDICAID HMO AND OTHERS HMOS) WILL NEED TO COORDINATE CHOOSING A NEW PCP IN EARLY 2024 IN ADDITION TO SCHEDULING NEW DOCTOR APPTS.

BCBS HMO patients who are part of Amita may change their PCP by e-mailing Arcadia (Guidehealth)

managedcaresupport@guidehealth.com. 90 days prior to Dr French's retirement, HMO patients still assigned to Dr French will receive a letter outlining reassignment to a new PCP in July 2024 IF they do not proactively choose the new PCP themselves. HMO patients can always switch PCP's if there is a glitch in this system.

OTHER HMO patients (Cigna Connect and Medicaid HMOs, etc) will need to call their insurance company to choose a new PCP (call the number on the back of your insurance card). SOME OFFICES REQUIRE THAT YOU CHANGE PCPs before they will let you make an appointment. Dr French is able to provide care in the interim (but not past July 31, 2024) until you meet the new PCP who will take over your medical care.

3) Although Dr. French is an independent physician, many of his patients, especially with HMO's are attributed to Amita Health CIN (AHCIN) and are managed within the Ascension system (formerly called Amita or Presence). There are many fine physicians within this system:

Ascension Medical Group Lincoln Park: Dr. John Lee, Max Arons, Khrystyna Savchuk/773-281-3563 Ascension Near North: Dr. George Roepke (LGBTQ/HIV interest)/ 312-280-0996

Ascension St Joseph (Dr. Ryan Cook (LBGTQ interest), Owais Lodhi, Kirsten Hefele and multiple other docs/773-665-6851).

Ascension Family Practice Group: (Alyssa Hart, Aneesh Tyle AND colleagues /312-337-1982)

Ascension Resurrection 773-774-7474 (Drs Molina, Cano-Garcia, Ciszek and others)

Other new providers patients have chosen are:

***Northwestern Lincoln Square 312-926-3627 (on 4/17/2024, I have just learned that

Evan Wittke MD will be moving to the GLENVIEW location AFTER 9/1/2024)

***Consider Northwestern Belmont Location: Dr Shea Welsh (same phone number)

Rush on Sheffield 773-472-3704 (Joshua Mueller PA-C)

WellnessHome (Private practice LGBTQ/HIV): Drs Brownlee, Vargas, Stokes 773-296-2400

The Clark (Northshore /Andersonville): Drs Tyler Saunders, Brian Stojack and Kristin Shannon

Advocate Ravenswood including Zach LaMaster (LGBTQ) 773-561-7500

University of Chicago Primary Care Group: 773-702-6840

Michigan Avenue Internists (several physicians including Evan Ng (LGBTQ), Drs Amy Chen and Paterakos): 312-922-3815

Howard Brown Health Center Halsted: Zachary Long

One Medical

Primecare in Wicker Park

DR FRENCH IS NOT RECOMMENDING ANY SPECIFIC DOCTOR OR LOCATION AS THEIR INFO IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE.

4) Setting up medical care anywhere is a process that can take weeks to over 6 months, so I suggest

planning ahead and calling NOW to make appts for 2024. Medical records that are in our possession may be provided either to you directly or to any new provider with a properly executed medical release (see the Medical Records Release TAB on this website). At some point after all the business affairs of the the practice are settled, your medical records will be sent to a CUSTODIAN OF RECORDS and their contact info will be provided.

COVID-19 PANDEMIC ISSUES

WE HAVE RECORDED OVER 2500 CASES OF COVID-19 IN OUR PRACTICE SINCE MARCH 2020. SOME PATIENTS HAVE HAD COVID 2-3 TIMES. AS OF 12/11/1023, WE ARE STILL AVERAGING 3-8 PATIENTS WITH COVID PER WEEK.

WE STILL REQUEST THAT ALL ACUTELY ILL PATIENTS WEAR A FACE COVERING IF ENTERING OUR OFFICE; WE RARELY SCHEDULE TELEMEDICINE VISITS AND ONLY IF NECESSARY AS THESE PLATFORMS HAVE SEVERAL LIMITATIONS.

IF YOU HAVE COVID-RELATED SYMPTOMS LIKE FEVER OVER 100, COUGH, SHORTNESS OF BREATH, SORE THROAT, CHANGES IN TASTE OR SMELL, CALL THE OFFICE TO BE TRIAGED.

I WISH ALL MY PATIENTS AND STAFF GOOD HEALTH!

Neel French, M.D.

Hours/Directions/ Parking

Monday: 8:45AM-5:00PM

Tuesday: 9:45AM-7:00PM

Wednesday: 8:45AM-5:00PM

Thursday: 8:45AM-5:00PM

2-3 Fridays per month: 7:45AM-4:00PM

2 Saturdays per month: 7:45AM-12:00PM

*Valet park $10 (9-5 M-TH;9-1F)
*Park Chicago (only $3/hour)
*Side street parking WEST of Clark Street is NON-ZONED during daytime.
*Broadway #36 or Clark #22 bus to front door (Deming)

Neel French, M.D., S.C.

2551 N Clark St, Suite 303, Chicago, IL 60614, US

(773) 857-2650; Fax (773)857-2645

Hours

See Above Please

2551 N. Clark Street, Suite 303, Chicago, IL 60614

COVID-19 PANDEMIC ISSUES

Our Services

Hours/Directions/ Parking

Neel French, M.D., S.C.

Hours

Testimonial