In Money-Saving Move, County Closing Health Clinics On Friday
UPDATED 04/21/11 5:30 p.m.
CHICAGO (CBS/STMW) -- The Cook County health system's clinics will be closed Friday as part of a plan to save money.
The closure includes all 16 County clinics, the Ruth M. Rothstein CORE Center, facilities for the Cook County Department of Public Health and all hospital-based specialty clinics. The health clinic closures are part of a county-wide shutdown plan aimed to save millions for the cash-strapped government body.
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The county pharmacies and labs will also be closed.
Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin says about 4,000 county employees will go to work tomorrow.
But for places like the Near South Health Center at 35th and Michigan, the writing is on the window: closed for business.
"It's bad because these patients they need to come in," clinic employee Sylvia Stanley told CBS 2's Pamela Jones.
The emergency room at all three County hospitals -- John H. Stroger Jr., Provident and Oak Forest -- will remain open.
The Fantus urgent care walk-in clinic, 621 S Winchester Ave., will also be open.
Some 15,000 "non-essential personnel," from Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle to janitorial staff, will be off without pay during the five shutdown days.
Tomorrow will be the first of five county shutdown days spread throughout the year. The others are: May 27, July 1, Sept. 2 and Nov. 25. Only offices providing "vital services" -- such as the jail system and hospital emergency rooms -- are exempt from the closures.
Lucio Guerrero, spokesman for the Cook County healthcare system, says the county is expected to save $16 million from the multiple furlough days.
But is it really worth it when it comes to limiting medical care? Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin says the county will soon find out.
The nurses union says their members weren't notified until Wednesday night that they'd be unpaid and not working Friday.
Suffredin says he's heard of one union considering filing a grievance for unfair labor practice because they didn't get enough time to plan for this. That's one of the wrinkles he says that will have to be ironed out.
The county courts will also remain open Friday. But the clerk's office will be closed, so residents who want a copy of their birth certificate, to apply for a marriage license or even pay their property taxes in person will have to wait until Monday.
The two weeks off without pay for most of the 24,000 county employees were approved by the county board in February as part of Preckwinkle's $3.1 billion spending package that kept the county in the black.
The city of Chicago and the Chicago Park District have also used shutdown and furlough days to balance their budgets.
© Sun-Times Media Wire Chicago Sun-Times 2011 & CBS contributed to this report. All Rights Reserved.
