6 Stroger nominees OK'd for hospital board

The Cook County Board has voted to approve just six of Board President Todd Stroger's nominees to take over the county hospital system.

Andrea Zopp, Jorge Ramirez, Quin Golden, Benn Greenspan, David Carvalho and Heather O'Donnell were approved by the board -- but it took two votes of the board for O'Donnell to be approved.

Rejected were nominees Barbara Hillman, a union attorney, and F. Daniel Cantrell, an aide to U.S. Rep. Danny Davis (D-Chicago).

Businessman Norman Bobins withdrew his name from consideration before today’s board meeting began.

The vote means Stroger must go back to a pool of 11 candidates and find three more to present to the County Board for consideration.

But the near-rejection of O'Donnell and close votes for others has some concerned about whether there will be others joining Bobins in turning away from participation with the panel.

The board was created as part of the 2008 budget process. Control of hospital operations is to be handled by an "independent" panel of nine, instead of the County Board, though the board would still control funding decisions.

The pool of 20 candidates was given to Stroger by another panel.

Though those 20 won praise, complaints came in about the lack of perceived balance among the nine Stroger picked.

Still to be debated by the County Board today is a move to add more members to the "independent" board, including County Board hospital committee chairman Jerry Butler.