W E D N E S D A Y
January 30, 2019 Vol. 39, No. 25 ONE DOLLAR @oakpark @wednesdayjournal
JOURNAL
ALL EQUITY
A Journal Conversation to be rescheduled
of Oak Park and River Forest
Details, page 11
County pol eyes Medicare for All Brandon Johnson is looking at progressive taxes as well By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor
Brandon Johnson, the Austin resident and former Chicago Public Schools teacher, pulled off a narrow, seemingly unlikely, victory against incumbent Richard Boykin to win the 1st District Cook County Commissioner seat by running well to the left of his opponent. Now that he’s been sworn-in, the veteran organizer is poised to be the most vocally progressive member of the Cook County Board of Commissioners. “There’s opportunity for real, bold progressive ideas to come from the county level of government,” Johnson said in his first interview with Austin Weekly News since taking office. The former Chicago Teachers Union organizer said that he’s still committed to many of the most ambitious proposals he called for while on the campaign trail — proposals, he said, that he’s advocated for years as an organizer and activist. Top of the list are ways of redistributing revenue that has been hoarded by wealthy individuals and corporations, so that it equitably flows to its highSee JOHNSON on page 15
Speed demons
ALEXA ROGALS/Staff Photographer
Cub Scouts at the finish line cheer on their cars during the annual Pinewood Derby event in the gymnasium at Lincoln School in River Forest on Jan. 26. Norman Rockwell couldn’t have composed it better. For more photos, turn to page 17.
Pipeline Health buys West Sub Medical Center Obama friend, Dr. Eric Whitaker, joins leadership at Pipeline
By TIMOTHY INKLEBARGER Staff Reporter
The deal announced in July 2018 by Los Angeles-based Pipeline Health to purchase West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park has gone through, according to a Tuesday announcement from Pipeline.
The national hospital operator said in the press release that the purchase from Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare also includes Louis A. Weiss Memorial Hospital, a 236-bed hospital on Chicago’s North Side, and Westlake Hospital, a 230-bed facility in Melrose Park. The terms of the deal were not dis-
closed, but Pipeline CEO Jim Edwards said in a telephone interview that the transaction also includes 22 emergency rooms in the Dallas area and four hospitals in Los Angeles that are now wholly owned by Pipeline. See WEST SUB on page 15
defy expectations. ffc.com/defy