We are thrilled to announce that a local anonymous funder has awarded HMPRG a two-year challenge grant for our Chicago Schweitzer Fellows Program which will help us sustain the program by maximizing your donor dollars! The funder match amount is $25,000 for each year - up to $6,250 per donor per year!

The Basics:

• For new donors, the funder will match your contribution dollar for dollar
• For recent donors (who have given in 2009 and/or 2009) the funder will match the dollar increase between your last gift and your 2010 contribution
• If you make a two-year pledge, the funder will match your donation for both years

To meet funder guidelines we must input the donations manually into our donor system.

Download the Donor Response Form and Instructions

We hope you will help us leverage this exciting opportunity by donating generously!   Your  contribution—increased by the match from this visionary funder — will help ensure that The Chicago Area Schweitzer Program and our Fellows for Life Network continue to serve as vital and powerful mechanisms for change.

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Co-hosted by The Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council and the Healthcare Consortium of Illinois, this event will bring together public health, medicine, behavioral health, and other safety net professionals to learn about the HIE planning in Illinois, hear from experts in nursing, public health, case management, and behavioral health informatics, and discuss action steps for improving health as state-wide health information exchange is developed.

Guest speakers include:

• Mary McGinnis, Illinois Office of Health Information Technology
• Terri Jacobson, MS, RN, FHIMSS, Director of Health Information Exchange, Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council
• Gail Keenan, PhD, RN, Associate Professor, Department of Health Systems Science, UIC College of Nursing, Director, Nursing Informatics Initiative
• Arturo Bindixen, AIDS Foundation of Chicago
• Meghan Patel, MPH, Enhanced Surveillance Unit, Cook County Department of Public Health

Location: Oak Park Library, Veterans Room, 2nd Floor (834 Lake St., Oak Park, IL).

To learn more or RSVP, contact Janna Stansell

On February 11, 2010, over 60 friends stopped into the HMPRG offices after work to toast Governor Pat Quinn’s appointment of Quentin Young’s as the Illinois Public Health Advocate - a unique mechanism for including the public’s voice in the formation of health policy, and the first such state-level position in the country.  In the next few weeks, Quentin will be meeting with volunteers who have expressed an interest in working to staff this position.

View Alan Krashesky’s ABC 7 Newsviews interview with Quentin discussing his new role

View Photos  from the Open House

Hear Quentin’s Comments at the Open House

A video was previously made of 2007-08 Schweitzer Fellow Jason Waldinger, who created a tutoring program that is still running at the Hyde Park Neighborhood Club.  Jason is now a 4th year medical student at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine.

The Illinois Nursing Home Safety Task Force has taken the initiative to address the serious situation of mixing populations of persons with mental illness with the elderly and others with physical disabilities in nursing homes.  In moving forward to address the current challenges, it is helpful to look historically at how we arrived here. Please read Health & Medicine’s Center for Long-Term Care Reform’s research report that looks at the care of persons with mental illness after deinstitutionalization in the United States and in Illinois.  It is our hope that this review will help as we plan for the future. If you have questions or comments about the document, please do not hesitate to call or email Kristen Pavle, or call Kristen at (312) 372-4292 ext. 27.

Illinois Nursing Homes as Care Providers for Mentally Ill: How Did We Get Here? (February, 2010)

Read the PASRR Report

Governor Quinn Names Public Health Advocate

Dr. Quentin Young to Champion Wellness Programs, Public Health Awareness

CHICAGO – January 9, 2010. Governor Pat Quinn today named Dr. Quentin Young Illinois’ Public Health Advocate. Dr. Young will develop wellness and education programs to help improve the health of the residents across Illinois.

“Throughout his long and distinguished career, Quentin Young has stood up for patients everywhere,” said Governor Quinn. “He will be a strong voice for Illinois families and will fight to ensure that everyone has easy-to-understand information about critical public health issues facing our state.”

Dr. Young, who has accepted the position for $1 a year, has been a constant advocate for patient rights, changing the face of medicine in Chicago and around the nation. Dr. Young founded the Committee to End Discrimination, which would eventually help to desegregate Chicago hospitals. In 1964, he helped launch the Medical Committee for Human Rights, serving as national chairman for the group that would become the medical arm of the Civil Rights Movement.. (Background Information)

Serving as personal physician to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Dr. Young marched beside him in 1966 during a peaceful protest in Chicago, treating King’s wound when an angry spectator hit him with a rock.

”I am honored to be appointed to be Illinois Public Health Advocate by Governor Quinn,” said Dr. Young. “I look forward to utilizing my lifetime of experience to develop effective programs that will improve the health of the people of Illinois.”

Dr. Young served successfully as chairman of the Department of Medicine at Cook County Hospital, president of the Chicago Board of Health, and president of the American Public Health Association. Dr. Young founded the Chicago-based Health and Medicine Policy Research Group and co-founded the Physicians for a National Health Program. In 2001, a 78-year-old Dr. Young walked across Illinois with Governor Quinn in support of quality healthcare for everyone.

Governor Quinn signed an executive order to create the position of Illinois’ Public Health Advocate on November 21, 2009. The office will recommend and facilitate the development of public health strategies designed to prevent, diagnose, treat, and cure diseases. (Executive Order)

In his position Dr. Young will focus on assisting residents in understanding health coverage provisions and help them better understand their public health rights. He will also work to ensure that public health reports are easily accessible and understandable. The position will be housed within the Department of Public Health and will utilize existing public health programs, staff and resources.

Additional links to coverage:

Interesting commentary on the appointment:

http://www.examiner.com/x-17205-Chicago-Healthcare-Policy-Examiner~y2010m1d11-Quinn-names-doctoractivist-to-new-public-health-post#

 http://scienceblogs.com/effectmeasure/2010/01/illinois_governor_names_a_publ.php

Local News coverage

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local/illinois&id=7210083
AP Link

http://www.wandtv.com/global/story.asp?s=11795415

http://www.wbbm780.com/Quinn-names-stat

Photo from posting at examiner.com

Health & Medicine Policy Research Group is pleased to announce the naming of our Founder and Chairman, Quentin Young, as the Illinois Public Health Advocate. The official State of Illinois press release is below.

Governor Quinn Names Public Health Advocate

Dr. Quentin Young to Champion Wellness Programs, Public Health Awareness

CHICAGO – January 9, 2010. Governor Pat Quinn today named Dr. Quentin Young Illinois’ Public Health Advocate. Dr. Young will develop wellness and education programs to help improve the health of the residents across Illinois.

“Throughout his long and distinguished career, Quentin Young has stood up for patients everywhere,” said Governor Quinn. “He will be a strong voice for Illinois families and will fight to ensure that everyone has easy-to-understand information about critical public health issues facing our state.”

Dr. Young, who has accepted the position for $1 a year, has been a constant advocate for patient rights, changing the face of medicine in Chicago and around the nation. Dr. Young founded the Committee to End Discrimination, which would eventually help to desegregate Chicago hospitals. In 1964, he helped launch the Medical Committee for Human Rights, serving as national chairman for the group that would become the medical arm of the Civil Rights Movement.. (Background Information)

Serving as personal physician to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Dr. Young marched beside him in 1966 during a peaceful protest in Chicago, treating King’s wound when an angry spectator hit him with a rock.

”I am honored to be appointed to be Illinois Public Health Advocate by Governor Quinn,” said Dr. Young. “I look forward to utilizing my lifetime of experience to develop effective programs that will improve the health of the people of Illinois.”

Dr. Young served successfully as chairman of the Department of Medicine at Cook County Hospital, president of the Chicago Board of Health, and president of the American Public Health Association. Dr. Young founded the Chicago-based Health and Medicine Policy Research Group and co-founded the Physicians for a National Health Program. In 2001, a 78-year-old Dr. Young walked across Illinois with Governor Quinn in support of quality healthcare for everyone.

Governor Quinn signed an executive order to create the position of Illinois’ Public Health Advocate on November 21, 2009. The office will recommend and facilitate the development of public health strategies designed to prevent, diagnose, treat, and cure diseases. (Executive Order)

In his position Dr. Young will focus on assisting residents in understanding health coverage provisions and help them better understand their public health rights. He will also work to ensure that public health reports are easily accessible and understandable. The position will be housed within the Department of Public Health and will utilize existing public health programs, staff and resources.

Additional links to coverage:

Interesting commentary on the appointment:

http://www.examiner.com/x-17205-Chicago-Healthcare-Policy-Examiner~y2010m1d11-Quinn-names-doctoractivist-to-new-public-health-post#

 http://scienceblogs.com/effectmeasure/2010/01/illinois_governor_names_a_publ.php

Local News coverage

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local/illinois&id=7210083

AP Link

http://www.wandtv.com/global/story.asp?s=11795415

http://www.wbbm780.com/Quinn-names-stat

Photo from examiner.com blog post

Pictured below: Quentin Young, MD with John Lozier, MSSW, Executive Director, Health Care for the Homeless Clinicians’ Network  The award reads: With grateful appreciation for his leadership in the Single Payer movement, and for his great character, Quentin Young, MD, has been named an Honorary Lifetime Member of the Health Care for the Homeless Clinicians’ Network. December 17, 2009

Pictured below: Front row (from left): Quentin Young, MD, Chairman, Health & Medicine Policy Research Group; John Lozier, MSSW, Executive Director, Health Care for the Homeless Clinicians’ Network

Back Row (from left): Jack Salmon, PhD, Board Member, Health & Medicine; Bechara Choucair, MD, Board Member, Health & Medicine;  Margie Schaps, MPH, Executive Director, Health & Medicine;  Joe Zanoni, MILR,  Board Member, Health & Medicine;  Lon Berkeley, President, Health & Medicine

Find out how the candidates for Cook County Board President plan to address the health needs of Cook County residents through changes to YOUR public health system.

When: January 12, 2010, from 6-7:30 PM
Where: First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple,
77 W. Washington, Chicago, IL
RSVP/Info: James Meerdink at Citizen Action-IL, (312)427-2114 ext. 211

Moderated by:
Laura Washington – Chicago Sun Times
Phil Kadner – Southtown Star

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