Hospital board grows to 11 for balance

COOK COUNTY | Stroger's original picks called too union-friendly

Cook County Board President Todd Stroger's nine picks for a new county hospital board have drawn heavy criticism for tilting the panel in favor of unions.

On Tuesday one of those nine withdrew his candidacy, and the County Board rejected two more. It also voted to expand the hospital board to 11 members, including Commissioner Jerry Butler, chairman of the county's hospital committee.

In expanding the board, commissioners said they hoped to draw more business and health care leaders as nominees, adding balance to the health panel.

Jorge Ramirez of the Chicago Federation of Labor, Quin Golden of the Illinois Department of Public Health, Benn Greenspan of the University of Illinois at Chicago and David Carvalho of the Illinois Department of Health won easy approval.

But Exelon executive Andrea Zopp barely made the cut, while the board took two rounds of voting before selecting Heather O'Donnell of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability.

Rejected by wide margins were F. Daniel Cantrell, an aide to U.S. Rep. Danny Davis, and union attorney Barbara Hillman.

Former LaSalle Bank Chairman Norman Bobins pulled his name from consideration before Tuesday's meeting began. He cited time conflicts, but those who've talked with him said he had concerns about the makeup of Stroger's board as well.

Stroger now has 14 days to pick four new nominees from a pool of 20 he now has, a group Commissioner Larry Suffredin said should leave the county with "a fairly top-notch group" to run the beleaguered health system.