Health & Medicine, in collaboration with 8 other organizations, began the Regional Health Care Safety Net Initiative in 2006 to build on the successes of the previous Chicago/Cook County Summit and to address the new and intensified problems of today.  This Initiative is a process of policy analysis and development of comprehensive solutions to secure an adequate and seamless health safety net for residents or the seven county region of Northeastern Illinois.

The process has focused on the key issues of governance, personal health services, health equity, workforce, finance, and data & demographics.  This collaborative effort, which uses the World Health Organization’s framework for strengthening a health system, is designed to create a regional blueprint to more efficiently and effectively provide quality health services for uninsured, Medicaid, and other vulnerable populations in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, and Will counties.  The economic downturn, political leadership changes, and shfiting populations provide an opportunity to create sustainable change.

Background

In 1990, the Mayor of Chicago, Cook County Board President, and Governor of Illinois convened leaders from the public, private, and not-for-profit health care system, along with business, philanthropic, and community leaders in a Chicago/Cook County Health Summit.  This year-long effort prepared a prospective roadmap to address the problems facing vulnerable populations and providers of the health care safety net in Cook County, with many of the recommendations since implemented.