Change of Control at Stroger Hospital

This is in response to the article written by Mike Colias entitled Panel Eyeing Hospital Shift: Durbin's Group Likely to Urge Taking Control From Stroger http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=26383 that appeared on page one of the September 17th, 2002 Crain's Chicago Business.

This article really brings home the point about how there is often nothing really new, just things that keep coming around. This is especially true about the idea proffered by a number of politicians that the Cook County Bureau of Health Services should be run by a commission and not by the County Board.

If you read the book The Old Lady on Harrison Street by Dr. John G. Raffesnperger, you will find out that the efforts to keep the county hospital system free of political patronage and interference are as old as the hospital itself. One may also learn that at one time in the not to distant past, the hospital was run by an independent board.

If this idea is to work two things must happen. First, leaders in government must learn from the mistakes of the past and understand what were the circumstances that cased the independent boards of the past to be disbanded and second, there must be airtight assurances of independence by the new governing body that all decisions, especially about hiring and contracts, will be free from political interference. The new board must be made up of dedicated health professionals who specialize in public health.

I was amazed when I read Dr. Raffesnperger's book how coveted was a place on the house staff of Cook County Hospital was or how keen the competition for a residency was. Can the same be said today under the leadership the county health services has had in recent years.

The Cook County Bureau of Health Services can become a model for health deliver services nationwide if only there is the political will to stop making the county health service (and all county government for that matter) a dumping ground for the politically connected to collect a paycheck.

The citizens of this county deserve nothing less than a world class health service and will be willing to pay for it if proper governance of it is in place.