HR0382 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0382 LRB097 12057 CEL 55836 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Public health issues are of paramount importance to the State and its units of local government; and

WHEREAS, Health disparities have a systemic and critical impact on morbidity and mortality rates in communities throughout the State; and

WHEREAS, The State Board of Health has adopted the 2011 State Health Improvement Plan (SHIP), and the State Health Improvement Plan Implementation Council will be appointed to guide the implementation of the 2011 SHIP; and

WHEREAS, The State is in need of a comprehensive review of its public health policymaking and regulatory framework in order to meet the needs of its diverse citizenry; and

WHEREAS, The State has the resources through its agencies, public and private universities, and community-based organizations to conduct a comprehensive review of its public health policies and policymaking infrastructure; and

WHEREAS, The Community Engagement and Research Core is a federally-funded component of the University of Illinois at Chicago Center for Clinical and Translational Science, engaged in broad-based, action-oriented public health policy research and dissemination, and the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health has been engaged by the Illinois Department of Public Health to assist the SHIP Implementation Council fulfills its mission; and

WHEREAS, Population health status and health services needs unique to Illinois should be reflected in the research and policy analysis work of researchers, planners, and policy analysts; and

WHEREAS, A comprehensive review of the State's public health policies and policymaking infrastructure is critical and necessary in order to fully benefit from federal health care reform, demonstrate additional efficiencies in the delivery of health care services to those most in need, and foster the relationship of public health to the larger community in terms of human, physical, fiscal, and program resources; and

WHEREAS, State policymakers will benefit from a comprehensive and well-developed study of the State's public health policies and policymaking infrastructure; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that the State Health Improvement Plan Implementation Council is encouraged to prepare a comprehensive report to the General Assembly on the State's public health policies and its public health policymaking infrastructure that shall include an Illinois policy agenda; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the State Health Improvement Plan Implementation Council is encouraged to work with the Community Engagement and Research Core housed at the University of Illinois at Chicago to develop an Illinois policy agenda; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the State Health Improvement Plan Implementation Council shall prepare a report to be presented to members of the House Health Care and Health Disparities Committee on or before December 31, 2011; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be presented to the members of the State Health Improvement Plan Implementation Council and the directors of the Community Engagement and Research Core.