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Doctor urges Will County not to cut maternal-health and communicable-disease funding
Summary
At the finance committee meeting, Dr. Gary Lipinski of the free clinic urged the committee to preserve maternal-health and communicable-disease funding, warning cuts would worsen outcomes for Black women; the committee later amended the health department levy to $12 million.
During the public-comment period of the Will County Finance Committee meeting, Dr. Gary Lipinski, medical director of the free clinic and a member of the Will County Health Board, urged committee members not to cut funding for maternal-health programs and communicable-disease work. "We have made a lot of progress in Will County with our partnerships on maternal health... If we cut the funding on this, that's gonna get even worse," he said, citing higher maternal mortality among African American women.
Lipinski also emphasized the role of communicable-disease programs as a community safeguard, referencing lessons from the pandemic. His remarks came before the committee debated multiple levy scenarios; later in the meeting the committee amended the health department levy to $12,000,000 and approved the change.
The comment highlighted a recurring tension in the levy debates: members balancing taxpayer concerns about property-tax increases with the county's responsibility to fund essential public-health services. The committee did not directly tie the health levy amendment to this single comment in its vote record, but the health department figure was among the amended levies the committee approved for forwarding to the full board.
Attribution: Dr. Gary Lipinski, public comment, Will County Finance Committee meeting.
