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County: Life, Death And Politics At Chicago's Public Hospital (2011)

by David A. Ansell(Favorite Author)

3.82 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0897336208 (ISBN13: 9780897336208)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Chicago Review Press

review 1: An interesting read about Cook County Hospital in downtown Chicago. I didn't always agree with some of his political views, but I felt it was well written and informative about the complex issues facing many of the poor in Chicago. I read this after a medical rotation through the hospital, which helped me to gain some insights into the many issues in the hospital. I would recommend it for anyone in the Chicago area or involved in public health or administration.
review 2: "Hyper-segregation and poverty in Chicago contributed to a deterioration of health in many communities. Poor health was not just the result of random acts, bad luck, bad behavior or unfortunate genetics. Deliberate public policy decisions about housing, education, parks and streets were the ke... morey drivers of racial differences in mortality. Crime kept people off the streets and limited their ability to exercise. The lack of grocery stores limited dietary choices. The lack of primary care doctors and specialists in these communities made chronic disease care more difficult. The degradation and loss of hospital services in these communities affected hospital-based outcomes. When any health disaster struck Chicago - diabetes, AIDS, or breast cancer - these communities suffered a disproportionate amount of the morbidity and mortality. The chronic underfunding of critical health services at Cook County Hospital and other safety-net providers contributed to these poor outcomes as well. The deleterious impact of social structures such as urban pverty and racism on health has been called 'structural violence.'""One does not ask of one who suffers: What is your country and what is your religion. One merely says, you suffer, this is enough for me. You belong to me and I will help you" - Louis Pasteur"Public hospitals like County will still be the last refuge for the medically deprived in the US. Because the tiered system of health care in the US excludes the uninsured from the mainstream, the COok County Hospitals of the country will always be required to be the last resort for the poor.""...epidemic proportions of diabetes, hypertension, smoking, depression, asthma and obesity. The rates among black and Latinos were many times higher than among whites in Chicago. The consequence was higher death rates for minorities in Chicago. By 2010, over three thousand black people died every year in Chicago because they did not have the same health care experience as white people ... Much of this was preventable.""The racial disparity in mortality in Chicago was one of the highest reported in the nation. This disparity stood out as an indictment of the public and private health care systems that, by design, were failing the city's most vulnerable populations." less

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