Seven Stops, Sixteen Years: Mapping the Fight for Health Equity on Chicago’s West Side
FeatureApr 7, 2026· By Novartis Live. Magazine

Seven Stops, Sixteen Years: Mapping the Fight for Health Equity on Chicago’s West Side

In less than 20 minutes on the CTA Blue Line, life expectancy drops 16 years. A powerful new feature from Novartis follows that journey — and the community fighting to close the gap.

In Chicago, the CTA Blue Line is more than just a transit route — it is a timeline of health.

If you board the train at the Washington stop in the Loop, you are standing in a neighborhood with a life expectancy of 85 years. But as you head west, the numbers begin to drop. By the time you reach the Pulaski stop in West Garfield Park — just seven stops and less than 20 minutes away — life expectancy plummets to 69 years.

7
CTA Blue Line Stops
Washington (Loop) to Pulaski (West Garfield Park)
<20 min
Travel Time
Less than 20 minutes separates two vastly different life outcomes
16 yrs
Life Expectancy Gap
The “Death Gap” that Live Healthy Chicago is working to close

This 16-year “death gap” is the reason Live Healthy Chicago exists. Our mission is to dismantle the structural barriers that create these disparities. We know that health doesn’t just happen in a doctor’s office — it happens in our grocery stores, our housing, and our transit systems.

A Powerful New Exploration

A new feature from Novartis, “Seven Stops Down the Blue Line,” takes a deep dive into this exact journey. Through the lens of the E3 Project — a collaboration between the Novartis US Foundation and our partners at Rush University Medical Center — the article explores:

The “Death Gap”
Why the distance between the Loop and the West Side is one of the largest health divides in the United States — and the data, history, and structural forces that created it.
Social Medicine in Action
How shifting the focus from “treating disease” to “treating the community” is the only way to close the gap. The E3 Project embeds community health workers directly into neighborhoods, meeting people where they live.
The Faces of the West Side
From the “Two Towers” of the city’s skyline to the local heroes working as community health workers — meet the people fighting every day to change the narrative of their neighborhoods and ensure that health is no longer determined by your stop on the Blue Line.

This is a sobering look at the challenges we face, but also a testament to the resilience of the Chicagoans working to ensure that your health is no longer determined by your stop on the Blue Line.

Read the original article →