It’s the eyes I remember.
As an ER doctor who has worked throughout Chicago’s South and West sides, I’ve seen profound tragedy and sadness over my career — but especially over the last several months.
Since the pandemic began, I’ve seen people who have gone from 100% healthy to barely able to breathe in just a few days. I’ve counseled friends who have been blindsided by an onslaught of end-of-life care decisions. I’ve had to tell the heartbroken families of my patients that they can’t see their grandparent, their spouse or their child during what could be their last days alive.
But it’s their eyes that have stayed with me. They’re wide and uncomprehending, they’re panicked, they’re hopeless in the face of this pandemic.
These unfortunate circumstances are concentrated in certain communities across Chicago. More than three out of four COVID-19 cases in the city occur within our African-American or Latinx populations, with the predominant number of coronavirus cases clustered on the South and West sides.
So the question becomes: What can we do? How do we fix this? What can we do to reduce inequity and improve health care across our city?
In the short term, we can decrease the spread of COVID-19 by wearing masks, maintaining social distancing and understanding how to protect the most vulnerable people, such as the elderly and those who have compromised immune systems and live in poverty.
But to make gains in the long run, there’s something else we can do right now to dramatically improve health care: Fill out our Census forms and represent our community. Taking a few minutes to answer nine simple questions could greatly improve health care conditions for everyone in Chicago — especially in our city’s most underserved area.
It is no secret that Chicago has a great imbalance of health care opportunities. In a medical system that already has a history of structural and systemic racism, the South and West sides have the greatest disinvestment in hospitals, clinics and other health care facilities. A recent decision to close Mercy Hospital on the South Side is the latest example.
Even before the COVID-19 outbreak, some 60% of South Side residents felt the need to go to other parts of the city if they needed emergency care. This very fact is discouraging, given that many emergencies are time-dependent.
A lack of strong health care, in addition to “food deserts” and fewer educational and economic opportunities, have combined to create a perfect storm of vulnerability for Black and Brown communities. But with additional funding and an intentional effort to balance the system, the city could build more care centers to treat more people, improve quality and address these underlying issues.
That’s where the Census comes into play. It determines how much money we get from the federal government over the next 10 years. The more of us who fill out the Census form, the more funding we get. That’s real money that could make a massive difference by improving our safety net hospitals and creating safer communities.
We cannot leave that money on the table.
For each Illinois resident not counted in the 2020 Census, the state loses almost $2,000 per year over 10 years. All in all, the state could lose $195 million per year for each one percent of the population undercounted in the Census.
Participating in the Census takes only a few minutes, but it could make a world of difference — a difference I hope to see soon in the eyes of my patients.
Dr. Garth Walker is an emergency medical physician at the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center and a public health researcher in Chicago.
Send letters to letters@suntimes.com.
