Nurses Join Doctors in Cook County Rescue Rally - "One Hour That Will Make A Difference"

More than 900,000 Uninsured Cook County Residents' Health Care At Risk
Nurses Call for Reform and Revenue to Secure the Health Bureau's Future

As the Cook County Finance Committee meets Wednesday morning, nurses from the National Nurses Organizing Committee will once again be on the front lines with doctors and patients to call for reform and revenue for the Cook County Bureau of Health Services in order to resolve the 2008 County budget stalemate and secure the Bureau's future.

What:      Rally before Cook County Finance Committee meeting
Where:   Cook County Building, 118 N. Clark St., 5th Floor Lobby
When:    Wednesday, February 27th, 8:15 – 9:15 a.m.

As the deadline for the Cook County budget negotiations nears, the potential shutdown of the Bureau of Health threatens the health services of hundreds of thousands of Cook County patients. Cook County medical staff will remind the President and board that last year’s massive budget cuts have already caused terrible suffering to the citizens of Cook County and harmed the Bureau's reputation as one of the nation's premier public healthcare systems.

• 1,500 women are on a "waiting list" to see an OB/GYN specialist because an earlier visit to a primary care physician identified problems.
• Hundreds of people are being kept out of the work force because needed operations to their legs, hips, and feet are taking months to schedule instead of days.
• The cuts to the 2007 Bureau of Health budget were made without proper planning, analysis and care, and as a result people are in pain and in some cases have died.
• The 900,000 uninsured residents of Cook County need a public health care system that takes care of them, not one that treats them like they don't matter.

NNOC calls for support of its "patients' budget" amendments that rebuild the Bureau's primary care mission through the restoration of some of the nursing positions lost in the 2007 budget cuts. These amendments include restoration of 13 Nurse Practitioners (Advanced Practice Nurses) in the clinic network which could generate a fiscal benefit of $18.9m.

NNOC also calls for support of reform and revenue. Specifically, NNOC calls on the President and Board to support Commissioner Suffredin's revised Trusteeship Ordinance. This ordinance takes into account all of the conversations Emergency Network leaders have had over the past three months with statewide healthcare leaders, regional health policy experts, County Commissioners, and community members. Agreement on this ordinance is the key both  to securing support for County revenue increases as well as helping County secure the future of the Bureau in the midst of a public healthcare funding crisis of national proportions.