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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING THE EFFORTS OF THE RACIAL EQUITY RAPID RESPONSE TEAM
WHEREAS, for over 180 years, Cook County Health (hereinafter, “CCH”) provided and continues to provide health care to everyone, regardless of race, ethnicity, immigration status, sexual orientation, or ability to pay; and
WHEREAS, in addition to providing direct clinical care, CCH also works to identify and address social needs, including but not limited to food insecurity, housing instability, and justice involvement. Additionally, CCH has a long history of working to address structural and systemic racism and take an inclusive approach in its work; and
WHEREAS, CCH is a founding hospital member of West Side United, including Ascension Health, Lurie Children’s Hospital, RUSH, Sinai Chicago, and UI Health. CCH was also a co-convenor of the Racial Equity Rapid Respond Team (hereinafter, “RERRT”) at the request the City of Chicago Mayor’s Office, under former Mayor Lori Lightfoot; and
WHEREAS, The RERRT centered racial equity in all its efforts to address the pandemic to save lives and alleviate further harm to Black and Latinx communities; and
WHEREAS, the RERRT became a model worth replicating in other cities, including New York City, struggling to address inequitable health outcomes, including and beyond COVID-19, and the systemic issues underpinning them; and
WHEREAS, The RERRT convened communities and formed coalitions between government agencies, health providers, and community organizations. The RERRT identified needs and disparities by gathering community insight, advocating for resources, championing reliable data and information, and promoting healthy behavior; and
WHEREAS, The RERRT partnered with twenty-one (21) healthcare providers to proactively reach out to patients in communities most impacted by COVID-19, contacting approximately 75,000 patients. Of those who provided race/ethnicity information, 48% self-identified as Black and 40% self-identified as Latinx; and
WHEREAS, RERRT’s key local partners included, City of Chicago Mayor’s Office, Chicago Department of Public Health, West Side United, Civic Consulting Alliance, Rush University Medical Center, Sinai Urban Health Institute, University of Chicago, Advocate Health, University of Illinois Chicago, Austin Coming Together, Greater Auburn Gresham Development Corporation, South Shore Works, Enlace, Latinos Progresando, NW Side Housing Center, ChiByDesign, South West Organizing Project, Chicago COVID Response Fund, Oprah Winfrey Charitable Foundation and more; and
WHEREAS, The RERRT in partnership with the Civic Consulting Alliance facilitated collaboration between healthcare providers, which culminated in an unprecedented joint statement in mid-June, in which forty (40) institutions spoke out in a unified voice to declare racism a public health crisis and pledge collective action to improve health equity; and
WHEREAS, The RERRT worked to place testing sites in historically underserved communities, resulting in eight (8) testing sites in RERRT target locations and mobile testing sites to making testing more accessible; and
WHEREAS. The RERRT in partnership with local and national philanthropy secured financial support for those most impacted by COVID-19, including $3.1M in grants secured by partners, $155K in rent assistance, and cash assistance, including $120K for 120 individuals ineligible for federal stimulus dollars; and
WHEREAS, within the first two (2) months of its launch, the RERRT distributed critical resources to communities, including 130,000 masks and 13,000 plus meals, reaching 8,000 households and more than 2,000 seniors. The RERRT enabled public access to COVID-19 data via a Slalom dashboard providing testing, case, and death rates by race/ethnicity and at the zip code-level establishing Chicago as a national leader in data transparency; and
WHEREAS, The RERRT commissioned the Driving Equitable Resource Distribution report compiled by ChiByDesign proposing five (5) strategies and fourteen (14) guiding principles to ensure cross collaboration between business, government and philanthropy.
NOW, THEREFORE, WE, BILL LOWRY, COOK COUNTY COMMISSIONER OF THE 3rd DISTRICT, TARA STAMPS, COOK COUNTY COMMISSIONER OF THE 1st DISTRICT, AND TONI PRECKWINKLE, PRESIDENT OF THE COOK COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS, along with our colleagues on the Cook County Board recognize the efforts of the Racial Equity Rapid Response Team and its alignment with Cook County’s continued commitment to eliminating structural and systemic racism by promoting health equity and advocating for equity in healthcare, education, employment, public safety.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, a suitable copy of this Resolution be presented to the Racial Equity Rapid Response Team as a lasting tribute to their remarkable and enduring work in grateful acknowledgment of its exceptional service by the Office of Cook County Commissioner Bill Lowry 3rd. District.
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