Now is not the time to close emergency room doors. Please join us as we support Provident nurses in petitioning Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle to reopen Provident’s ER.
Resilience is incredibly disheartened to learn about the closure of Provident Hospital’s ER, especially during a public health crisis. On Monday, April 6, Provident’s ER was closed, with workers learning about the closure via an email sent the previous Friday afternoon. Located on the South Side of Chicago, Provident primarily serves African Americans in the Washington Park neighborhood. African Americans account for 72% of Cook County’s COVID-19 related deaths—reducing emergency healthcare without any input will only worsen this horrific trend.
As a longstanding partner, we urge the Cook County Health and Hospital System to reconsider this closure, convene with the surrounding community and providers who work there to assess its impact on Chicago’s most vulnerable people, and share their plans to ensure the community has access to comprehensive local emergency healthcare. As a service provider that routinely works with survivors of sexual violence in Provident’s emergency department, we look forward to being a part of those conversations if and when they occur.
Please sign the petition and share with others:
Nurses from Provident Hospital will be presenting this petition to Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle at 3:00pm on Friday, April 17. Nurses will assemble at safe distance at the Cook County Building, located at 118 N Clark St. in downtown Chicago.
Please call and email the following elected officials:
Toni Preckwinkle
Cook County Board President
312-603-6400
info@tonipreckwinkle.org
Bill Lowry
Cook County Commissioner, 3rd District (which includes Provident Hospital)
312-603-6391
bill.lowry@cookcountyil.gov
Dennis Deer
Cook County Commissioner
2nd District (Health and Hospitals Committee Chairman)
312-603-3019
dennis.deer@cookcountyil.gov
Call-in script:
I’m calling to demand that [INSERT NAME OF OFFICIAL] take immediate action to reopen the Provident Hospital ER. Since April 6th, Washington Park and the greater South Side have been without crucial emergency healthcare in the middle of a public health crisis.
With African Americans accounting for 72% of reported COVID-19 related deaths in the county, it is essential that Black communities receive more resources, not less. Survivors of sexual violence are especially at risk when emergency rooms are not accessible. I urge [INSERT NAME OF OFFICIAL] to work with Cook County Health to build more access for those most affected by COVID-19.
Bill Lowry, Cook County, coronavirus, COVID-19, Dennis Deer, Pandemic, Provident, Provident Hospital, South Side, Toni Preckwinkle, Washington Park