October 24, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For more information, contact Ibis Antongiorgi, Press Secretary to Cook County Board President Todd H. Stroger, at 312-603-0396 or by email at iantongiorgi@cookcountygov.com.

Cook County Health Chief Debunks Claims of Bloat and Patronage on Chicago Public Radio  

October 24, 2007, CHICAGO – Today, Dr. Robert Simon, Chief of the Cook County Bureau of Health Services (“BHS”) engaged Cook County Commissioner Forrest Claypool on Chicago Public Radio’s Eight Forty-Eight program on the issue of the commissioner’s claims regarding the BHS, laying bare Claypool’s lack of knowledge regarding the County’s health system and exposing his long-standing “bloat” talking points as threadbare.  The debate comes one day following the BHS’ budget presentation to the Cook County Board of Commissioners (“Board”) – a positive exchange where Dr. Simon’s efforts were primarily lauded.

“My only goal is to ensure that both the Board and the general public be armed with accurate, up-to-date information regarding the state of Cook County’s public health care efforts,” said Dr. Simon.  “Reinventing public health care in this County has continued to prove challenging, but my commitment to the President, the Board and our residents is that I will continue, along with my staff, to do whatever we can to improve our operations.”

Cook County Board President Todd H. Stroger was pleased with Dr. Simon’s effort to get real information to Cook County’s residents.

“On several occasions, Dr. Simon has challenged a few, select commissioners to debate what he believes to be their intentionally misleading statements regarding the Bureau,” said President Stroger.  “In this instance, Commissioner Claypool failed to accurately or effectively defend his positions and Dr. Simon proved his own beliefs to be correct – that Claypool and his cohorts are simply getting a pass in the public discussion of these issues. I have asked him to continue to discredit any false claims regarding the Bureau and make sure the public is properly informed.”

During the debate, Claypool himself pointed to his 2007 “omnibus” amendment to President Stroger’s proposed budget as proof of bloat.  The document, however, has many failings that do little more than prove many of Dr. Simon’s assertions. They include the following:

• The amendment massively under-funded positions that Claypool 'restored' for the Bureau of Health by 60%. Out of a total of 1,063 positions, only 420 positions are funded at least at the base grade level.
• Claypool cut critical administrative and nursing positions in cancer, diabetes, and heart disease, all of which are extremely busy services. The BHS sees more new cancer patients than any other hospital in the State of Illinois.
• Despite cutting those critical services, Claypool’s amendment fully restored Occupational Medicine, which was headed by one of his political supporters. Occupational Medicine, which was deleted by the President, only saw 345 new patients in the entire year. All of those patients have since been moved to other areas. The average physician sees 2,000 to 3,000 patients a year; those 345 new patients were seen by three physicians. Commissioner Claypool refuses to answer the question of why he restored Occupational Medicine, yet, cuts critical administrative positions that would have gutted cancer, heart disease, and diabetes.
• Commissioner Claypool cut a large number of Finance positions which would help the BHS restore its revenue cycle. He criticizes the BHS’ ability to collect, yet, cuts all of those positions that would help us collect revenues.

To hear the entire debate between Dr. Simon and Commissioner Claypool, click this link:  http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/Program_848.aspx?episode=14197.

President Stroger encourages Cook County resident to continue their active involvement in the public discourse about his proposed budget for the fiscal year 2008.  For more information, please visit www.cookcountygov.com.


For more information, contact Ibis Antongiorgi, Press Secretary to Cook County Board President Todd H. Stroger, at 312-603-0396 or iantongiorgi@cookcountygov.com. 

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