BHC is proud to call the Health and Medicine Policy Research Group (HMPRG) an essential component within our important initiative. HMPRG has operated for twenty-seven years as an independent, freestanding, non-profit center for health policy formulation, advocacy, and health systems development to enhance the health of the public, with a mission centering on the health of the poor and underserved.
HMPRG has long been familiar with the developments that have shaped the availability of health care to the poor in the region, and has maintained its influence by developing groundbreaking standards for public programs and providing the leadership for necessary change.
HMPRG’s core values include:
- Universal healthcare
- Quality and effective delivery systems
- Adequately funded and compensated primary health care providers
- Special role for county, other public sector, and other safety net providers
- Recognition that health is ultimately dependent on economic justice more so than medical care
- Elimination of health disparities
HMPRG’s work takes many forms depending on the nature of the problem being addressed. The work includes policy research, conferences, trainings, testimony development, media relation, policy briefings, coalition building, and the development and promotion of legislation. It remains one of the organization’s proudest achievements that it is seen as an “honest broker”, trusted by disparate groups to bring them together to work on common problems.
HMPRG’s 2009 agenda includes the following:
(1) Research, analysis and advocacy to support the strengthening of the Cook County Health and Hospitals System (formerly Cook County Bureau of Health Services)
(2) Analysis of the implications of national health sector events for Chicago, Cook County and Illinois
(3) Policy research on state long-term care programs and development and promotion of long-term care policy for Illinois’ elderly
(4) Research, policy analysis and policy development to support the health of court-involved girls in Illinois
(5) Creation of opportunities for young health professionals in training to commit themselves to serve the poor and underserved
(6) Completion of rules and regulations and CON process regulations for the establishment of freestanding birth centers and continued public and health care provider education about birth centers
(7) Establishment of a set of priorities for establishing a seamless regional health care safety net
(8) Lead a statewide effort (under the directive of the new Governor) to advance options for statewide health reform.
Health and Medicine is proud to be a member of the Building a Healthier Chicago. This group shares the values and goals of Health and Medicine, to develop partnerships that can work to unleash strategies to create the conditions for a healthier population.
