Hal Dardick, Chicago Tribune, October 23, 2008, 

Health board seeks infusion
Cook system needs $103 million, more workers, chief says

The new independent board overseeing Cook County's vast public health system wants an extra $103 million next year and permission to hire more than 400 new workers.

The panel's chairman is defending the request as a needed first step before the troubled operation can be made more efficient, with fewer employees and more money collected from patients and their insurers.

Dave Newbart, Chicago Sun-Times, October 9, 2008Report: 17 percent of Cook Co. residents uninsured

What's not included in a new report from the U.S. Census Bureau on the uninsured is "even darker and more ominous,'' one local expert said.

Published in the Chicago Tribune, 2/19/2008

By Deborah L. Shelton

About 350 doctors, patients and health-care workers rallied downtown at the Chicago Temple on Monday to press for increased funding for the Cook County Bureau of Health Services.

Chanting and waving placards, they urged county commissioners to restore funding from cuts imposed during last year's budget crunch.

Several physicians told rallygoers that patients face increasingly long waits for appointments and that working conditions for health professionals have worsened recently.