For 28 years Health & Medicine has operated as an independent, freestanding, non-profit center driven by a singular mission: formulating health policy, advocacy and health systems to enhance the health of the public.

The reason for our focus is obvious. America’s vast dysfunctional health care system has lurched from crisis to crisis. Observers across the political spectrum recognize that absent fundamental financial and delivery system reform, the entire system will collapse.

A perfect storm looms. Demand for services is growing as a result of our aging, increasingly uninsured public. At the same time, the frontline health care workforce is under greater pressure as spending on health and human services declines. Virtually every state spends more for health and human services than it takes in. City and County government health service resources are generally under even greater stress.

In 2007, the Cook County Bureau of Health Services saw unprecedented budget cuts, causing clinic closings and resulting in the worst access to care in decades. Demand for services far exceeds capacity, as patients wait days to fill a prescription, are unable to schedule non-urgent procedures, and are turned away by clinics that refuse service to new patients. At the same time, the health care safety net across the region is deteriorating, as fewer hospitals and health centers struggle to serve an ever-increasing number of people in need, and health insurance becomes more and more costly.

We invite and encourage organizations, institutions and individuals to learn about our organization and our work; and to partner with us in achieving our goal of an accessible, affordable, equitable health system.