Cook Board makes separate health board permanent

The Cook County Board voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to make the independent board overseeing the Health & Hospitals System permanent.

The board voted by a seemingly veto-proof count of 13-3 to grant the board permanent independence from the county board, with only Chicago Democratic Commissioners William Beavers and Deborah Sims and Crestwood Democrat Joan Patricia Murphy opposed.

The independent oversight board was created in a deal to pass Cook County's 1-percentage-point increase in the sales tax in 2008, but with a "sunset provision" to expire in three years. Tuesday's action removed that expiration.

Yet, it was unclear if President Todd Stroger would sign it. He declined to comment after the vote.

The measure passed over union opposition from doctors and nurses, irked at staffing cuts imposed by the independent board.

Glenview Republican Commissioner Gregg Goslin said independence was key to "reinventing our hospital system," and Riverside Republican Tony Peraica called it essential to cleaning up the hospitals as "a patronage dumping ground."

"We have to take the most blatant form of politics out of health care," said Chicago Democrat Forrest Claypool. "We can't go backward."

Sims countered that the board only created "another layer of bureaucracy" and said the issue should be left to the next county president elected in November.

"The steps we take today are not in conflict with the next president," argued Evanston Democrat Larry Suffredin, pointing to how both major candidates, Republican Roger Keats and Democrat Toni Preckwinkle, have already endorsed the notion of making the hospital board permanent.

Indeed, Chicago Hyde Park Alderman Preckwinkle instantly issued a statement citing her support for it in the primary and adding, "I am proud of the board for recognizing and acting on the wishes of the voters, who rightly insist that we free our health and hospitals system of politics and patronage once and for all."