Cook County’s uninsured and underinsured residents are fortunate to have the extensive service network of the Cook County Bureau of Health’s hospitals, clinics, and professional staff. But these facilities can and must be run more efficiently to make the most of every health care dollar. With the cost of health care experiencing double-digit inflation every year and taxpayers at their limit, inefficiencies—duplicative services and bureaucratic waste—are competing with valuable health care resources.

My plan will ensure that County health services are as efficient and effective as possible by working toward three basic objectives:

1. Correct extensive waste and duplication; end the bureaucratic drain on health care services

2. Divert mismanaged resources ito high quality, preventative care

3. Serve as a convener of a Regional Health Coordinating Council, which will

• Place services closer to patients

• Pursue cooperative ventures to create a network of specialists

• Coordinate referrals in a network of private and public facilities

• Use health data to launch targeted prevention campaigns and coordinate care of diseases for which there is no means of prevention

Read the Health Care Plan here.