The Chicago Tribune reported today that Cook County budget cuts and staff reduction are causing an "emerging health crisis":

"Hundreds of women with abnormal Pap smears, unusual bleeding, pelvic masses and other worrisome symptoms are waiting for weeks or months to see county gynecologists in the Cook County health System."

CCH is hearing the same kinds of stories from the women with whom we work.

Today, for example, I heard about a 46-year-old mother with a 7 year-old son staying in a South Side shelter. She recently called Cook County hospital because she was experiencing pelvic pain. The hospital told her that the earliest appointment she could get with a gynecologist was in May, four months from when she called.

This mother's situation is not unique. "More than 450,000 women in the Chicago area don't have health insurance, and many depend on county hospitals and clinics, according to a May 2007 report from the Chicago Foundation for Women." (Follow the link to read the full report: "A Profile of Uninsured Women in Illinois".)

If women are unable to get the immediate care they need, The Tribune reports that "the more likely it is that untreated medical problems could worsen, exposing [them] to severe pain, cancers that are harder to treat or even life-threatening emergencies."

Follow the link to read The Chicago Tribune article.