Dangerously Dysfunctional

Dangerously dysfunctional. Are we talking about the city, the state or the county? This time it's the County of Cook, and what are we getting from our "public servant" at the helm (as one of my friends said recently, we don't even know if his father is still alive). Tribune:

As the Cook County Board mulls a tax increase to plug a $300 million budget hole and shore up its clinics and hospitals, a growing number of critics are saying it's time for someone else to run the county's struggling health system.

The $810 million system -- the medical safety net for hundreds of thousands of people -- is currently operated by the County Board under the direction of the president's office. Critics say the arrangement invites political meddling and has become dangerously dysfunctional.

Political meddling in Cook County?! Nah.

Deep cuts in services and yet they are still not even billing for millions of dollars. Critics are pushing for the establishment of an independent board. The Tribune cites examples from around the country where the spin-off has worked, but skeptics remain:

"We've had an independent commission once before, and where did it get us?" asked Commissioner Jerry Butler, who chairs the county's Health and Hospitals Committee.

"If we're not going to do juvenile detention and now you're saying we're not going to do the hospitals, then what is the board going to do?" he said. "If they keep taking pieces out of the job, pretty soon you won't need commissioners either."

Now there's an idea! (Better yet, privatize everything.)

New data from the county show notable declines in the number of patients seeking care at its facilities. Overall, as the county closed 12 community clinics, outpatient visits dropped 17 percent in the year ended July 30 compared with the prior year. It's not clear whether patients are getting care elsewhere or forgoing it.

Clearly people are voting with their feet. Most likely they are ending up in expensive emergency rooms when they can't cope any more.

Is government good for anything around here?

Let's have some good government and get healthcare out of the hands of Todd Stroger and his corrupt cronies.

P.S. Maybe Wal-Mart will open some health clinics around here.

P. P.S. In case you missed Dennis Byrne:

Isn't there some way for fed-up citizens of Illinois, Cook County and Chicago to force their governments into receivership?

After all, when a corporation is as stunningly incompetent as are Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, legislative leaders, Cook County Board President Todd Stroger, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and his toady City Council, creditors can force it into bankruptcy in which a court-appointed trustee straightens out the mess or, if necessary, shuts it down to preserve the remains.

If the city, county or state were corporations, their creditors long ago would have forced their operations out of the hands of the bunglers and turned it over to a court-appointed executive.

(Also, great cartoon in the print edition today. Can't find it online.)

UPDATE: Sun Times, "Stroger's tax bite: He wants to hike property, gas, parking fees"

Related posts: Call Your Commissioners!, Governor No Credibility, Empire Building on our Backs