Watchdog Group Accuses Hospital Of Racial Redlining

A healthcare watchdog group is charging one of the biggest hospital networks in the state with racial redlining. They claim it's a situation that's vastly improving wealthier suburban hospitals while letting inner-city facilities slide. Advocate Bethany Hospital on Chicago's west side is one of several inner-city hospitals that community activists say has been neglected by advocate officials, while its suburban counterparts get all the cash. "They have created BYOB hospitals...bring your own blanket hospitals on the west side. And our residents can get sicker in the hospital than they can outside of the hospital, “ said Rev. Gregory Livingston of the Westside Health Crisis Coalition. Members of the hospital accountability project call it redlining, favoring facilities in rich areas while neglecting those in poor ones. One example, activists say at four suburban Advocate hospitals, where 81% of patients are white, $232 million went towards major improvements since 1996. At four urban hospitals, where 68% of the patients are minorities, they say advocate spent $26 million in improvements over the same amount of time. Employees say that's a problem. "It means Advocate built a $17 million fitness center in Barrington while I ran from unit to unit looking for the necessary equipment to care for my patients. Advocate employees are forming a union to improve these things," said Alicia DeCross, a nurse with Advocate South Suburban Hospital. [more]