CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, June 15 — “These cuts make one wonder whether the Cook County Board of Health is malicious or just incompetent,” a physician stated at a recent hearing.  One of the latest budget-slashing moves by the Cook County bosses is to not re-apply for WIC (Women, Infants and Children) program.  Mostly funded by federal money, WIC provides nutritional support to pregnant women and their infants or small children. Yet the Board is aiming to literally take milk away from babies!

At a recent hearing on this issue, pediatric healthcare providers spoke out against the cut.  One pointed out that it was racist because it will affect mostly black and Latino children.  A hospital board member felt compelled to criticize the use of words like “racist” or “Nazi” (a term used by the public to characterize the board at previous hearings). This time around, the Board voted down this particular cut. But keep in mind that these Board members are the same people who are going all out to try to close two of the County’s three public hospitals. They may yet scuttle the WIC program when they meet again on June 24.

Under instructions from recently-elected Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, a liberal Democrat, the Board of Health has advanced a plan to close Oak Forest and Provident hospitals, which serve primarily black and Latino patients on the city’s South and West Sides.  Multiple hearings on the closure of Oak Forest have brought out many residents to demand that the hospital remain open (see CHALLENGE, 5/11).  After the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board (IHFSRB) denied permission for the closure, Preckwinkle pushed a bill through the State Senate to close the hospital without IHFSRB approval. The bill failed to reach the House floor before the General Assembly adjourned this spring. 

Despite this stay of execution, Oak Forest services had already been drastically decreased. Only about a dozen patients are slated to remain at the hospital. There will be no surgeries, no intensive care, no acute rehabilitation; the “hospital” will be a glorified emergency room.  And there is no guarantee that it won’t be completely closed in the near future.

The bosses explain that these cuts are necessary to keep the state fiscally solvent, even if it means targeting the workers at the bottom. But budget shortfalls do not exist in a void.  According to Joshua Holland of U.S. Labor Against the War, “Forty-six states face budget shortfalls in this fiscal year, totaling $130 billion nationwide. The supplemental requests for fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan this year add up to $170 billion — that doesn’t include the Pentagon’s base budget, nukes or Homeland Security.”

The priorities of those ruling the U.S. have nothing to do with providing decent healthcare or pensions to workers, the two items most often blamed for the state’s budget woes. This past year, the County allocated $126 million in their capital budget to build administrative offices at the old Cook County Hospital — enough to fund inpatient care at Oak Forest for more than five years. At every level, capitalism is full of disconnects between its relentless drive for profit and the basic needs of workers for a decent life.

Despite the cutbacks, there are positive aspects to this struggle. A number of dedicated and principled people have come out repeatedly to try to save what’s left of healthcare in Cook County. Their example is inspiring, and none of our minor victories could have happened without their speaking up and banding together.  In addition, everyone involved has learned some important lessons from the fight over Oak Forest, which has lain bare the illusions of voting and “democracy.”  Preckwinkle was billed as “more competent” and “less corrupt” than her predecessor, Todd Stroger, but she is fighting tooth and nail to strip the County of healthcare services.

Finally, it has become clear that capitalism is at the root of these problems. A system that
places profits before people requires imperialist wars to be funded above all else, leaving workers in the cold.  Although we will keep fighting to keep our hospitals open and our children fed, we know that only the complete destruction of this capitalist system will lead to healthy outcomes for all.