Chicago Heal Initiative

Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, one of the clearest indicators of the success or failure of any public health system is average life expectancy. Between the United States and other countries around the world, there are dramatic differences in life expectancy compared to the United States.

But you don't have to fly thousands of miles to see a place where people live sicker and die younger than their neighbors. In Chicago, hop on the Blue Line and go from the Loop to the ``L'' stop in West Garfield Park. Between those two neighborhoods--just 5 miles apart-- life expectancy plummets 16 years. How can that possibly be?

Chicago is home to some of the greatest hospitals in the world. The best doctors, the best nurses, the best technology--it is all there, but not for them. As it turns out, how healthy we are and how long we live depends more on our ZIP Code than our genetic code.

While countries overseas face challenges with infectious disease or high child mortality rates, children in Chicago are dying preventable deaths of another form: an epidemic of gun violence. Yes, we need better gun laws, but the reality is that this Congress and this President do not want to take commonsense action.

So what else can be done to address the root causes of violence?

Last year I introduced a bill that would increase funding to train more teachers, doctors, and social service providers to identify and provide care to children with emotional scars left from witnessing violence and exposure to other adverse childhood experiences. Major parts of this bill were included in the opioid package that already passed the House and I hope will pass the Senate soon.

But I asked myself: What else can we do? Then it hit me: hospitals.

The hospitals in Chicago are on the frontlines of the city's gun violence epidemic, providing high-quality care to heal bodies ripped apart by bullets, but the ability of hospitals to reduce violence in Chicago goes far beyond the extraordinary, lifesaving care they provide in the ER.

Hospitals in Cook County, IL, pump $49 billion a year into the local economy, and they employ 232,000 people. Hospitals are often the largest employers in their communities.

For several months, I brought together the CEOs of the 10 largest hospitals serving the city of Chicago. I asked them three questions: What is your hospital is doing to make your neighborhoods safer and better? What more can you do? And how can I help?

We identified a number of Chicago neighborhoods that they serve--or are too often underserved--to focus our efforts.

Remember, these institutions compete with each other every day, but together, we came up with unified roadmap--a set of common goals and commitments that are endorsed by all 10 hospitals.

Over the next 3 years, these 10 hospitals will expand economic opportunities for local residents by: increasing local hiring by 15 percent--that means hundreds, or thousands, of new local hires; increasing the goods they purchase from local businesses by 20 percent--meaning millions in procurement dollars; and expanding summer employment, internships, and job training programs for residents in health fields.

The 10 hospitals are committing to opening new health clinics in schools and community centers and expanding the availability of mental health services.

They will enhance their clinical healthcare practices by increasing lead screening rates by 15 percent, reducing opioid prescribing by 20 percent, prioritizing maternal and infant health outcomes, and researching gun violence.

This new hospital-led effort is focused on two things: reducing gun violence and healthcare inequality. It is called the Chicago HEAL Initiative: ``Hospital Engagement, Action and Leadership.''

According to the American Hospital Association, it may be the first such regional hospital partnership to tackle a local issue. The hospitals in the Chicago HEAL Initiative are already working on many these goals through an impressive variety of programs, but this new initiative will drive real change by bringing a new sense of partnership and focusing on activities outside of hospitals' traditional services within their four walls.

I am pleased to launch this new effort, and will do whatever I can in Washington to help reduce violence and uplift communities.

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