Thursday, November 02, 2006
Daily Herald

Dr. Daniel Winship, Cook County's health chief who has come under fire in the face of declining patient revenues, has resigned from the position he held for a little more than two years, county sources said.

A formal announcement is expected to be made Thursday morning.
Winship and the county's Bureau of Health Services have come under intense pressure in recent months as revenues have failed to meet expectations, creating a budget deficit of more than $70 million. The health bureau's finance chief, Alvin Holley, resigned in August.

Winship could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

County Board interim president Bobbie Steele has made no secret of her displeasure with officials in the health bureau since she took office Aug. 1.

Commissioners had grown increasingly frustrated by assurances made publicly by Holley and Winship that the projected revenues would be collected this budget year, which ends Nov. 30.

The candidates running in Tuesday's election for County Board president, Democrat Todd Stroger and Republican Tony Peraica, have both signaled that they would make significant changes at the health bureau.

Former Board President John Stroger hired Winship, 73, in August 2004. Winship was a former medical school dean at Loyola University Chicago and had gone on to run the University of Missouri's health system. Winship replaced Ruth Rothstein.