How Independent Will the New County Health Board Really Be?

By Kevin Robinson in News on May 12, 2008 3:20PM

Just a week after Todd Stroger announced his nine nominees to head up the independent board that will operate the county hospitals, it was revealed that the former head of the Health Services Bureau is still calling the shots. Stroger said that Dr. Robert Simon had conducted the interviews for those nine candidates. Simon resigned his position as head of the Health Services Bureau last month. Just as quickly, he was given a contract to be a "consultant" to the new independent county hospital board. Simon, a long-time friend of the Stroger family, is being paid $6,000 a month for that consulting work. He earned $26K a month as director of the Health Services Bureau.

County Commissioners questioned how independent the board really can be with Simon leading the interviews. "That's an insult to every citizen in Cook County," said Larry Suffredin "It shouldn't be a secret. The guy should have the courage to say if he resigned or didn't resign, and I guess he didn't." Stroger defended Simon, saying has been "adding some of his expertise" to the transition. Besides the presence of Simon, the nine candidates have raised questions among critics as well, who say that they are too close to local Democratic operatives or labor unions representing county health workers. "I feel confident [they] will put the best interests of the patients before politics and create an environment above reproach," said Stroger. Laurence Msall, president of The Civic Federation, isn't so sure. Msall sat on the nominating committee, and told the Tribune that “in order for this board to be truly independent, they need to be free of any more interference or involvement by the County Board.”

Image by The New No. 2