October 27, 2012

City Teams With Local Web Developers to Connect Chicagoans to Flu Shot Locations

New interactive mapping tool helps residents find free flu shot locations across Chicago throughout the remainder of the flu season

Mayor's Press Office    312.744.3334

The Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH), in collaboration with the Smart Chicago Collaborative,OpenGovChicago and local web developer Tom Kompare, today launched a new interactive web map that pinpoints CDPH’s citywide flu shot clinics based on location and hours of operation.

The mapping tool can be found at www.chicago.gov/flu. Residents can also call 3-1-1 to find more information on flu resources or visit the CDPH website at www.chicago.gov/Health.

“Getting a flu shot is an important part of staying healthy and we encourage all Chicagoans to use our easy-to-use interactive map to find a location to do so right in their community,” said CDPH Commissioner Bechara Choucair, M.D.  “This map is just one of the many innovative approaches the City is taking to ensure the health of all Chicagoans.”

The Smart Chicago Collaborative hosted project was led by the Tom Kompare, who volunteered his time to develop the app that makes it easy for Chicago residents to stay healthy this flu season by finding their nearest flu shot clinic to get vaccinated. Kompare lives in Rogers Park and also volunteers with Open Government Chicago(-land), a technology meetup group for Chicagoans interested in seeing governments function more efficiently and responsively. 

“Helping make City data more accessible and understandable is my way of giving back to Chicago, a sort of e-volunteerism,” said Kompare.  “Chicago has made public a really impressive amount of data and it’s up to developers like us to make this data more useful for everyday Chicagoans.”

This public-private collaboration grew out of conversations between CDPH and technologies at Open Government “Hack Night” where volunteer developers collaborate on civic technology projects at 1871, a co-working space for digital tech startups at the Merchandise Mart.

Since Mayor Emanuel took office, the city has overhauled the City’s data portal, data.cityofchicago.org, which now hosts more than 400 datasets and has been viewed 2.3 million times.  The Mayor’s Office is committed to collaborating with Chicago’s booming technology community to continue to build meaningful, useful applications to make City government more accessible to all Chicagoans.

About CDPH

The Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) works to make Chicago a safer and healthier place by working with community partners to promote health, prevent disease, reduce environmental hazards and ensure access to health care for all Chicagoans. Visit us at www.chicago.gov/health to learn more about how CDPH is transforming the health of our city.

About OpenGovChicago

OpenGovChicago(-land) is a meetup group is for citizens who are interested in seeing their federal, state, and local government function more efficiently and responsively. OpenGovChicago believes that citizens should consider government to be "us", not "them." Our group consists of people who are actively building tools and experimenting with solutions along these lines, as well as policy makers and government workers interested in these goals.

About Smart Chicago Collaborative

The Smart Chicago Collaborative is a civic organization devoted to using technology to make lives better in Chicago. Our founding partners are the City of Chicago, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and The Chicago Community Trust. As a funding collaborative, we help bring together municipal, philanthropic, and corporate investments in civic innovation. 

# # #