Full Text of SJR0032 096th General Assembly
SJ0032 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, CommunityHealth was founded in 1993 by Serafino | 3 |
| Garella, M.D., a board-certified Internist and Nephrologist, | 4 |
| as a direct response to the Chicago metro area community's lack | 5 |
| of access to reliable health care; and
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| WHEREAS, CommunityHealth operates an innovative model | 7 |
| supported by volunteerism and philanthropy, guiding it to be | 8 |
| the leader that defines excellence in delivering | 9 |
| comprehensive, patient-centered health care at no cost to | 10 |
| low-income, uninsured individuals and families in need of a | 11 |
| medical home; and
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| WHEREAS, CommunityHealth is dedicated to serving the | 13 |
| uninsured and underserved in Chicago and surrounding | 14 |
| communities, it has provided since its founding upwards of | 15 |
| 170,000 medical and education visits for more than 30,000 | 16 |
| uninsured men, women, and children; today, CommunityHealth | 17 |
| provides medical and educational visits for more than 7,000 | 18 |
| patients a year; and
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| WHEREAS, With more than 650 volunteers, including 285 | 20 |
| physicians from Chicago's leading health care institutions, | 21 |
| CommunityHealth represents a grassroots response to the needs | 22 |
| of the uninsured; in 2008, its volunteers donated more than |
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| 42,000 hours of time; its innovative relationships with eight | 2 |
| Chicagoland medical schools and residency programs have | 3 |
| established CommunityHealth as an important medical-training | 4 |
| center; and
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| WHEREAS, Of the 1.3 million uninsured who live in the | 6 |
| Chicago metro area, like the vast majority of the uninsured, | 7 |
| most of CommunityHealth's patients are from working families; | 8 |
| specifically, 80% come from working families, all lack health | 9 |
| insurance, all are living at or below 250% of the federal | 10 |
| poverty level, 43% present one or more chronic health | 11 |
| conditions, many are new immigrants and don't speak English, | 12 |
| and several patients travel great distances to receive | 13 |
| CommunityHealth's free care; and
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| WHEREAS, In the beginning the storefront clinic was open | 15 |
| just a few hours per week, today after demand for services | 16 |
| ballooned and the number of healthcare volunteers grew, | 17 |
| CommunityHealth operates a clinic six days a week, including | 18 |
| four evenings and Saturdays, providing a broad range of primary | 19 |
| and specialty care, as well as education, health promotion and | 20 |
| case management services; all examinations, lab services and | 21 |
| medications are free; and
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| WHEREAS, Thanks to a successful capital campaign, | 23 |
| CommunityHealth owns the building that houses its clinic at |
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| 2611 W. Chicago Avenue, which in 2005 was renamed the Lederman | 2 |
| Family Health Center after CommunityHealth's friend and | 3 |
| benefactor Sam Lederman; and
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| WHEREAS, CommunityHealth is also committed to being a voice | 5 |
| for the uninsured and collaborates with local and national | 6 |
| organizations that address the growing crisis of the uninsured; | 7 |
| through these efforts, it hopes to improve access to quality | 8 |
| affordable health care; and
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| WHEREAS, CommunityHealth operates almost entirely | 10 |
| dependent upon the private sector for support, with gifts and | 11 |
| grants from individuals, foundations, and corporations | 12 |
| accounting for more than 90% of our revenues; and
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| WHEREAS, CommunityHealth, through its comprehensive | 14 |
| patient services and many institutional affiliations, has | 15 |
| become a leader among free clinics nationwide; it offers an | 16 |
| innovative model for providing compassionate and comprehensive | 17 |
| medical care to the uninsured, and is the largest | 18 |
| volunteer-staffed free medical facility in Illinois; | 19 |
| therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL | 21 |
| ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES | 22 |
| CONCURRING HEREIN, that we applaud and honor CommunityHealth in |
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| its more than fifteen years of dedicated service to meeting the | 2 |
| needs of the uninsured in Illinois; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That we urge the Department of Public Health, in | 4 |
| cooperation with the Departments of Healthcare and Family | 5 |
| Services and Human Services, to identify public-private | 6 |
| collaborative opportunities with CommunityHealth to continue | 7 |
| its mission to serving the uninsured; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That the Department of Public Health shall issue | 9 |
| a report of identified collaborative opportunities to the | 10 |
| Governor and General Assembly, as well as copies of the report | 11 |
| sent to Directors of the Departments of Healthcare and Family | 12 |
| Services and Human Services, no later than January 2, 2010; and | 13 |
| be it further
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| RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be delivered to | 15 |
| the Governor, the Directors of the Departments of Public Health | 16 |
| and Healthcare and Family Services, and to the Secretary of | 17 |
| Human Services; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 19 |
| presented to CommunityHealth as a symbol of our respect and | 20 |
| esteem.
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