Dupage Policy Journal

U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL), along with the rest of the Illinois Congressional Delegation, urged the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in a recent letter to designate the Chicago Ebola Response Network (CERN) as a regional Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) treatment center.

The leaders emphasized the benefits of the designation, including enabling the group of highly skilled volunteer health care leaders, practitioners and emergency responders to more efficiently support the national response to Ebola and gain access to valuable resources for providing emergency preparation and decontamination.

“Throughout the Ebola virus outbreak, CERN demonstrated its unique capacity to meet the demands of an EVD treatment facility, and it has pledged to treat any future patients, including foreign and domestic travelers,” the lawmakers said, referring to the recent outbreak in West Africa and its effects here. “Ebola was not the first virus to come through Chicago, and it will not be the last. Given its centrality and unique population base, it is imperative that Chicago maintain capabilities to screen, diagnose, treat and prevent these conditions and participate in real time with other centers in the national network. Our providers believe that this designation will enable them to do just that.”

Others in the delegation who signed the letter include U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Mark Kirk (R-IL) and U.S. Reps. Mike Bost (-Dist. 12), Cheri Bustos (-Dist. 17), Danny Davis (D-Dist. 7), Rodney Davis (R-Dist. 13), Tammy Duckworth (D-Dist. 8), Bill Foster (D-Dist. 11), Luis Gutiérrez (D-Dist. 4), Randy Hultgren (R-Dist. 14), Robin Kelly (D-Dist. 2), Adam Kinzinger (R-Dist. 16), Dan Lipinski (D-Dist. 3), Peter Roskam (R-Dist. 6), Bobby Rush (D-Dist. 1), Jan Schakowsky (D-Dist. 9), Bob Dold (R-Dist. 10), Darin LaHood (R-Dist. 18) and John Shimkus (R-Dist. 15).